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RED VIENNA
Experiment in
Working-Class Culture
1919-1934
Helmut Gruber
( )x lo r< l I J n i v e r s i ly P r e s s
O xford New York T o ro n to
I Vllii Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi
PelaliugJaya Singapore H o ng Kong Tokyo
Nairobi D a re s Salaam C ape Town
M elbourne Auckland
and associated com panies in
Berlin Ibadan
0 M7 6 5 4 3 2 1
l*i Inled in the U nited States o f America
on a id-free paper
.\l 6
6 -7 8
1111
/1 U Y
Preface
Vlll
Preface
h a r d Meisl, G e rh a rd Steger, Karl Fallend, H ans Safrian, a n d J o se p h Weid en h olzer. A lth ou g h they may n o t agree with my critical perspective, they
nevertheless h e lp e d to shape it.
T h e friendly re c e p tio n a n d perso n al assistance I received at various
V iennese archives a n d university institutes which gave me unlim ited
access to all o f th eir m aterial a n d allowed me to re a d theses a n d dissertations
b e fo re being catalogued, a n d w hose directo rs o ffered helpful h in ts were
indispensable to my work. My thanks fo r this high d eg re e o f scholarly co o p
e ra tio n go to th e following: In stitu te f r W irtschafts- u n d Sozialgeschichte,
In stitu t f r Zeitgeschichte, a n d In stitu t f r V olkskunde all o f the U niver
sity o f Vienna; K am m er f r A rb e ite r u n d Angestellte, Dr. Eckhart F r h and
Dr. Karl Stubenvoll; D okum entationsarchiv des sterreichischen W ider
standes, Dr. H e r b e r t S tein er a n d Dr. W olfgang N eu g eb au er; s te rre ic h
isches Circus- u n d Clow nm useum , Mr. B erthold Lang; Bezirksmuseum
R udolfsheim -Fnfhaus, Dr. J o s e p h Ehm er; In stitu t f r G eschichte d e r
M edizin am Jo sefineum , Dr. Karl Sablik; Allgemeines V erw altungsarchiv
des sterreich isch en Staatsarchiv, Dr. Isabelle Ackerl; Archiv d e r Stadt u n d
L an d W ien; Archiv des sterreich isch en G ew erkschaftsbundes; Film
L ad en, Dr. Franz Grafl; Archiv d e r Volksstimme; In stitu t f r W issenschaft
u n d Kunst.
T h e c e n te r o f my research in V ienna fo r five sum m ers was the V erein
f r G eschichte d e r A rbeiterbew egung. Its d ire c to r, Dr. W olfgang M aderth a n e r, a colleague in every sense o f the term , provided an a tm o sp h e re o f
scholarly conviviality, served as a so u rce o f in form ation a n d contacts to p e r
sons a n d places vital to my work, a n d supplied m ost o f the p h o to g ra p h s for
th e book. I am m ost grateful fo r his generosity.
Discussions following th e public p re se n ta tio n o f p o rtio n s o f the work in
p ro g ress w ere b o th stim ulating a n d useful. These included: the 17th I n te r
natio n al C o n fe re n c e o f L a b o u r H istorians at Linz in 1981; the H arv ard
University C e n te r fo r E u ro p e a n Studies at C am bridge, M assachusetts, in
1984; th e Seco nd U N E SC O In te rn a tio n a l F o ru m o n the H istory o f the
W orking Class at Paris in 1985; a n d the University S em inar in the History
o f th e W orkin g Class at C olum bia University in New York City in 1986. At
O x fo rd University Press, N ancy L ane a n d David Rolls enthusiasm for my
bo ok fro m the very b e g in n in g was tran slated into a caring guidance o f the
m a n u sc rip t in its various transfo rm atio n s.
T h e origins o f this b o o k are difficult to trace. N o d o u b t the vivid m em ory
o f eig h teen m o nth s sp en t as a boy in V ienna in 1 9 3 8 -3 9 b efo re I was forced
to e m ig rate with th e possibility, in those tro u b le d times, o f exp lo rin g the
city fro m e n d to e n d in the co m p an y o f friends a n d w ithout adu lt supervi
sion was o n e o f the impulses. I am c ertain th a t my wife, Franoise Jo uv en ,
will a p p re c ia te th at I have resisted bow ing to the convention o f reciting plat
itudes o f g ra titu d e o n h e r behalf.
Paris
August !W ()
IL G
Contents
1. Introduction
3
5
12
V ienna, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 2 1 : A M ontage
13
A ustrom arxism : A T h eo ry fo r Practice?
3. M unicipal Socialism
29
45
81
114
Contents
7. C onclusion
Political Limits
C u ltural Limits
N otes
187
In dex
257
180
181
184
146
RED VIENNA
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
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Introduction
age was paid to the accom plishm ents o f Viennese m unicipal socialism in
b o th the labo r a n d middle-class p ress,14 strategic geopolitical o r institutional
c o n c e rn s w ere p a ra m o u n t.
U nderstand ably , th a t perspective the de stru c tio n o f a republic an d
th e liquidation o f a p arty o f 6 6 0 ,0 0 0 was p u t b efo re all o th e r consider
ations in th e crisis a tm o sp h e re o f that time. It is u n fo rtu n a te , however, th at
until very recently th e m ost significant casualty in F eb ru ary 1934, namely,
th e ex p e rim e n t to c reate a working-class c u ltu re in the socialist enclave o f
V ienna, has n o t received th e a tte n tio n it deserves. T h at a ttem p t to develop
a com prehen siv e p ro le ta ria n c o u n te rc u ltu re , going beyond piecemeal cul
tu ral re fo rm efforts o f socialist parties in o th e r c ou n tries a n d serving as an
a lte rn a te m odel to th e Bolsheviks e x p e rim e n t in Russia, is the subject o f
this book. In the Bolshevik exam ple p o p u la r en lig h ten m en t ideals, cultural
liberalism, a n d u to p ia n visions h a d b een at risk virtually fro m th e beginning
in th e struggle fo r o r d e r a n d con trol. T he Bolshevik p a rty s v a n g u a rd
position d e te rm in e d the co n tro lle d Soviet c u ltu re fo r the masses em erging
at the e n d o f the 19 2 0 s.15 T h e A ustrom arxists, a n d particularly O tto Bauer,
distan ced themselves fro m w hat they co n sidered th e d ictatorship o f a caste
o v er th e m asses.16 T h e ir cultural e x p e rim e n t was to be p red icated on
dem ocracy in a dual sense: relying on the political g ua ra n te e s o f a rep u b li
can g o v e rn m e n t a n d on the SD A Ps relation to th e ran k a n d file o f the
p a rty .17 W h at follows is n e ith e r an o bituary n o r a testim onial fo r this un iqu e
cu ltu ral land m ark b u t an e n d e a v o r to study it within its con tex t a n d to assess
its w ider significance.18
A M o d el o f P roletarian Culture
T h e Socialist p a rty s a tte m p t to create a com prehensive p ro letarian c o u n
te rc u ltu re was n o t an e x p e rim e n t in a form al, m ethodological sense o f pos
iting a hypothesis, e x te n d in g a n d testing it in practice, a n d evaluating its
results. Its e x p erim en tal quality lay in the d arin g a tte m p t to ex plo re the
u n k n o w n the b len din g o f c u ltu re a n d politics th ro u g h a com plicated n e t
w ork o f organizations aim ed at tra n sfo rm in g th e w orking class. Even
th o u g h the c ultural p ro je c t did n o t follow a b lu e p rin t b u t ra th e r evolved on
the basis o f e x p erien ce in daily practice, it flowed from a central b elief in
A ustrom arxist theory th a t c u ltu re could play a significant role in the class
struggle. If, as I a rgue, a m ain stre n g th o f this th eo ry was its flexibility, allow
ing socialist leaders o f the republic to re g a rd themselves as always acting
w ithin its compass, at th e p o p u la r level available to SDAP m em b ers a n d u n a f
filiated w orkers it also h a d an em blem atic a n d confidence-inspiring quality.
Unlike o th e r versions o f Marxism, it p ro m ised a foretaste o f the socialist
u to p ia o f the fu tu re in the p re se n t by locating the beginning o f the great
tra n sfo rm a tio n leading to a new socialist hum anity within capitalist society
itself, b e fo re the u ltim ate revolution. F o r the y o u n g er gen e ra tio n o f Austrom arxists, en gag ed in realizing the socialist project in Vienna, a boundless
Red Vienna
Introduction
Red Vienna
Introduction
willi a significant ( '.ommunist party, as did the socialists in W eim ar G erm any
and in F ran ce d u rin g th e P o p u la r Fron t. T h e party was also firmly in con tro l
o f the m unicipal a n d provincial g ov ern m en t as a result o f its significant
m ajorities, allowing it to initiate p ro g ra m s which could n o t be c o n tro v e rte d
locally. T he SDAP a n d tra d e u n io n s to g e th e r co m m an d ed an extrem ely
large a n d loyal m em bership. But this num erical, electoral, and go vern
m ental stre n g th in V ienna was deceptive, fo r the national go vern m ent
re m a in e d firmly in th e han d s o f th eir political o p p o n e n ts, th e Christian
Social party a n d its allies. F ro m the b e g inn ing th e co u n try was divided into
two cam ps-Vienna a n d scatte re d industrial enclaves against th e largely
a g rarian a n d C atholic provinces whose hostility was not simply political.
It ex p ressed itself in h ate m o n g e rin g by th e Catholic ch u rch , th e far-from silent p a r tn e r o f political reaction, fo r w hom socialism was th e A ntichrist.29
T h e state was n o t th e n eu tral, rep u b lic a n fo u n d a tio n the socialists imag
ined it to be, b u t an in stru m e n t o f th e ir increasingly a n tirep u blican o p p o
n ents. T h e socialists b elief was shaken w hen politically fru stra te d masses in
V ienna sto rm e d the Palace o f Ju stice o n Ju ly 15, 1927, a n d set it ablaze; the
police fired p o int-blank into th e crowds, leaving eight-five w orkers dead.
T h ese events r e p re s e n te d a tu rn in g p o in t in the fate o f the republic. They
also signaled a shift in th e SD A Ps cu ltu ral p rog ram : earlier it h a d b e e n an
in stru m e n t in the class struggle; now it increasingly becam e a su rro g a te fo r
politics, th e a re n a o f which shifted fro m electoral contests to force a n d vio
lence in th e streets.30
E conom ic co nditions in postw ar A ustria w ere far fro m e n c o u ra g in g for
social a n d c u ltu ral p ro g ram s.31 T he fra g m e n te d econom y o f th e small state
c re a te d a sense o f c on tin u al instability. U nem ploym ent was extrem ely high
even in th e p e rio d o f recovery (1 9 2 5 -3 0 ) a n d soared d u rin g th e depression,
affecting o n e th ird o f the la b o r force by 1933.32 It would n o t be an exag
g e ra tio n to say that d u rin g m ost o f th e re p u b lic s fifteen years a significant
section o f th e w orking class lived o n th e ed g e o f poverty. N e ith e r th e SDAP
n o r th e tra d e u n io n s fo u n d the m eans to alter th at h arsh econom ic reality.
B oth w ere largely reactive to capitalist p ressu res to intensify p ro d u c tio n an d
k eep wages fro m increasing in real term s. T he staggering decline o f over 40
p e rc e n t in tra d e u n io n m em b ersh ip was indicative o f the weakness o f the
p arty a n d th e tra d e u n ion s in this c o n te ste d te rra in .33 Small w o n d er th at the
w orkplace, so c entral to th e everyday life o f w orkers, was largely left o u t o f
th e socialists cultural program s.
T h e A u strian socialists cultural e x p e rim e n t offers an excellent d e m o n s tra
tion o f the re latio n sh ip betw een the m u ch-so u gh t-after p ro letarian culture,
a n d th e elite a n d su bcu ltu ral form s it a tte m p te d to eradicate fro m th e lives
o f w orkers. It exposes all the limitations o f such a quest, arising fro m a
paternalistic le ad ership tied to in h e rite d values, th e com plexity a n d resist
ance to ch an g e o f w ork er life-styles, a n d th e seductive com p etition o f com
mercial a n d m ass-culture leisure activities. T h o u g h fra g m e n te d a n d falling
sh o rt o f p e rm e a tin g th e w o rk ers public a n d private sphere, the experi-
m e m 's real accom plishm ents acted as a pow erful symbolic force far g re a te r
than th e sum o f its achievem ents. It signaled stren g th a n d a ccord ed dignity,
.1sense o f w orth , a n d confiden ce to the w orkers, because r e d V ienna was
som ehow theirs. As I shall d e m o n stra te , this symbolic stren g th was also
deceptive, in th at th e cu ltu ral p ro g ra m a tte m p te d to com pen sate fo r the
w ork ers econom ic d e p riv ation a n d th e increasing political powerlessness o f
the SDAP a fte r 1927. T h us the V iennese ex p e rim e n t p resen ts itself as a
m odel fo r studying the dynamics o f com prehensive p rojects involving cul
tural tra n sfo rm a tio n . As such it offers a striking image o f idealist intentions,
p re se n ts som e significant accom plishm ents, reflects th e inevitable c o n tra
dictions resultin g fro m actual practice, a n d carries so m b e r warnings about
the d a n g e r o f sub stitu tin g the symbolic fo r the real.
W hat follows is clearly an in te rp re ta tio n r a th e r th a n a com prehensive
history o f th e subject. This study seeks to exam ine the m ajo r co m p o n en ts
o f the SD A P s c u ltu ral p ro ject in V ienna, fro m the reform s o f m unicipal
socialism to the am bitious goals o f party culture, to u ch in g o n the la tte rs
relatio n ship to elite, com m ercial, a n d mass c u ltu re as well as to the w orkers
dom estic world. A secondary goal o f this study is to utilize th e experiences
in the V iennese la b o ra to ry to raise m o re general questions a b o u t efforts
to fashion a n d im p le m e n t co m prehensive cu ltu res fro m above. Failed
a tte m p ts in various co u n trie s d u rin g the past forty-five years make it all the
m o re in trig u in g to lay b a re a n d assess th e V iennese m odel, developed with
the best motives a n d th e highest ideals.
CHAPTER 2
13
V ien n a, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 2 1 : A M on tage
T h e repu b lic o f A ustria, with V ienna rem ain ing as capital, was finally p ro
claim ed o n N ov em b er 12, 1918.5 T h e re was little enthusiasm fo r th e new
republic. T he C hristian Social a n d Pan-G erm an parties had only shortly
b efo re declared themselves com m itted to m onarchy; the SDAP hesitated.
All th re e conceived o f the new state as being G erm an A ustria. The
E n te n te powers p re p a rin g f o r a C arthag inian p ea c e in Paris had insisted
o n the c o n to u rs o f the republic u n d e r the simple nam e A ustria. N o n e o f
the political forces re p re s e n te d by the Provisional Assembly m eeting in
V ienna w ere satisfied with the m inuscule state, pasted to g e th e r from the
leavings of a d ism em bered m onarchy: the C hristian Socials favored a central
E u ro p ean e m p ire u n d e r H a b sb u rg leadership; the left socialists as well as
15
16
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Demobilized soldiers in 1919, a source o f both the soldiers councils and the
Volkswehr (Verein fr Geschichte d er Arbeiterbewegung [VGA])
19
Organized workers dem onstration. The bann er proclaims: Long Live the
International World Revolution. (VGA)
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26
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bank ers o r Jew ish capital. T h e perversity o f Jew ish self-hatred am on g Jewish
socialist leaders was exp ressed in th e a tte m p t to fight anti-Semitism with
anti-Sem itism in socialist p am phlets a n d b road sides.74 B ut at n o time did the
SDAP publish a full-scale re b u tta l o f anti-Sem itism o r expose the close ties
betw een its P an-G erm an a n d Christian Social e x p o n e n ts a n d the Catholic
ch u rc h a n d racist o rgan izatio ns.75
T h a t th e SDAP allowed such g u tte r politics to go essentially un chal
lenged fro m th e b e g in n in g o f th e republic to its en d, with th e p ro m in e n t
Jew s in its lead ersh ip keep ing a low profile, w eakened the party and u n d e r
cut th e republic as well. O tto B a u e r a n d o th e r p ro m in e n t Jew ish socialists
lacked the political c o u rage to answ er the anti-Semitic slanderers fearlessly
a n d pow erfully in public deb ate. By contrast, w hen L on Blum was su b
jected to an anti-Semitic slur in th e C h a m b e r o f D eputies in 1923, he
replied: I am a Je w indeed. . . . O n e does n o t in any way insult me by recall
ing th e race in which I was b o rn , a race which 1 have never denied an d
tow ards which I re ta in only feelings o f g ra titu d e a n d p rid e . A nsw ering a
similar sland er in 1936, Blum said th a t he b elo n g ed to a race which owed
to th e F re n c h R evolution h u m a n liberty a n d equality, som ething th a t could
n ev er b e f o rg o tte n . 76
It is difficult to explain the very differen t resp o nse to anti-Semitism o f
F re n c h a n d A u strian Jew ish socialists. P erh ap s the F re n c h enjoyed the
advantage o f the revolutionary heritag e o f a n a tio n which h a d also painfully
e x p e rie n c e d a n d risen above the Dreyfus Affair, w hereas th e A ustrians con
fro n te d a tra d itio n th a t h a d p rid e d itself in resisting ch a n g e .77 P u t m ore
boldly, o n e m ight say th a t the difference o f resp o n se lay in the difference
betw een th e two republics: th e F re n c h was secular a n d the A ustrian clerical.
D efeat on the battlefield swept away th e old m onarchy, b u t the Catholic
c h u rc h re m a in e d und im in ish ed in its pow er. T h e A ustrian episcopate lost
no time in declaring itself to be the m oral g u ard ian o f a Christian a n d G er
m an n a tio n . 78 At th e same tim e the reigning cardinal a n d bishops
im pressed u p o n th eir flocks the n e e d to vote fo r those parties re p re se n tin g
C hristian principles in the u p c o m in g national a n d m unicipal elections.
While th e politicians were deb a tin g articles o f the c o n stitu tio n and the rel
ative pow ers o f th e provinces a n d n ational g o v ern m en t o f the fe d e ra te d
republic, th e Catholic c h u rc h quietly laid claims to its e n d u rin g place in the
new A ustria. It re ta in e d c o n tro l over secular fun ctio ns exercised u n d e r the
m onarchy, such as com pulsory religious e d u catio n in th e schools a n d reli
gious m a rria g e .79
T h e Catholic c h u rc h was b e tte r p r e p a re d th a n anyone else to arg ue fo r
I he c ontinuity b etw een the old a n d th e new, a n d thereb y to effectively fo re
stall a serious co n sid eration o f the sep aratio n o f ch u rc h a n d state. Thus
( Catholic priests w ere paid salaries by the state, a privilege n o t a ccord ed to
the officials o f o th e r religions. A nd m ost im p o rta n t, priests were perm itte d
to hold public office, a situation m ade blatant in the p erso n o f the Jesuit
lgnaz Seipel, who as lead er o f the C hristian Social party becam e h e a d o f
governm ent. F u rth e rm o re , the n u m e ro u s thinly disguised Catholic lay
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32
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36
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fe w
llie p o litic a l p o w e r s w e r e n o t b a l
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alm ost im m ediately a fte r its main exposition, fro m b o th outside a n d inside
the party. H ans Kelsen, the liberal legal theoretician a n d architect o f A us
tria s c o n stitution , arg u e d th at th e re h a d n o t b e e n a balance o f class pow er
e ith e r d u rin g th e b rie f coalition p erio d o r th ereafter, because the capitalist
exploitative system an d related social o r d e r h a d r em ained in c o n tro l.131 The
b elief th at the equilibrium betw een classes could be exp ected to last for
som e time a n d provide the necessary basis fo r the SD A Ps cultural strategy
was challenged by O tto L eichter, one o f the editors o f Die Arbeiter-Zeitung.
T h e disarray am o n g reactio n ary forces a fte r the war, he arg u ed , h a d been
p ro d u c e d by th e council m ovem ent, which h a d since faded away. In A ustria
th e balance h a d ceased to fu n c tio n w hen the C hristian Social party regained
its po w er in 1922. Such an e p ip h e n o m e n o n , he concluded, did n o t m erit a
whole new c o n cep tio n o f the class struggle a n d the s ta te .132
T hese co m m en taries n e ith e r alte re d B a u e rs position n o r deflected
m unicipal officials and SDAP fun ctio n aries fro m co n tin u in g to p u t the cul
tural p ro g ra m into p ractice so m ethin g they h a d be e n d o in g fo r som e time
b e fo re th e form al discussion o f the legitimizing balance-of-forces theory.
T o e n d th e long saga o f A ustrom arxist theo ry h ere, in 1 9 2 3 -2 4 , w ould offer
to o idyllic a p ictu re o f the fate o f B a u e rs co nceptu al s tru c tu re in its contact
with political reality. Strangely e n o u g h , the SDAP did ex perien ce a few
nearly halcyon years in which th e party grew a n d its p rog ram s flourished.
T h e party congress o f 1926 took place at the high p oin t o f socialist selfconfidence a n d sense o f practical accom plishm ent. This was ex pressed in
the so-called Linz P ro g ram , which co nfirm ed the socialists co m m itm ent to
social ch an g e a n d cultural im p ro v e m e n t.133 M uch o f the d ra ft p ro g ra m as
usual, the w ork o f B a u e r was devo ted to explicating th e p a rty s devotion
to political dem ocracy a n d its institutions. In the process it n o t only ch a r
acterized Bolshevism as a failed a tte m p t to elevate socialism to a hig her
p lane a n d w a rn e d a b o u t m eth od s o f change based o n force, b u t also directly
re c o n sid e re d th e n o tio n o f balance o f class forces. T h e latte r review was
u n d e rta k e n in respo n se to the grow th o f th e H e im w e h r134 a n d o th e r an ti
rep u b lic a n forces which th re a te n e d to overthrow dem ocracy. It p roje c te d
a fu tu re in which th e balance w ould be u pset in favor o f the socialists, who
w ould com e to p o w er by being elected by a clear m ajority o f A ustrian s.135 If
the socialists th e n u sed th e ir dem ocratically gained right to e x p ro p ria te cap
italism, su p p o rte rs o f th e la tte r w ere ex p ected to d e fe n d th eir p ro p e rty and
p osition o f p o w er by resisting. If, th e a rg u m e n t c o n tin u ed , th e bourgeoisie
sh ou ld initiate a co u n te rre v o lu tio n with the object o f re sto rin g the m o n
archy o r c re a tin g a fascist state, th e SDAP would be obliged to use defensive
fo rce (civil war) a n d a defensive dictatorship.
This position on defensive force a n d defensive d ictatorship to safeguard
d em ocracy was a co m p ro m ise h a m m e re d o u t at the congress betw een B auer
a n d Max A dler, in o p po sitio n to R e n n e r .156 T h e latter had a rg u e d th at the
socialists' e n try in to a new coalition with its o p p o n e n ts w ould safeguard the
balance o f forces. A dler had insisted that only the fear of w orker selfd efen se kept th e bourgeoisie at bay an d the ( lass forces in balance. T he linal
41
p ro g ra m im plied that the SDAP would pro te c t its c ultural ex p erim en t with
force o f arm s if necessary. A ltho u gh Die Reichspost a n d o th e r right-wing
n ew sp ap ers chara c te rize d the defensive force position as a call fo r bloody
revolution, B a u e rs terse slogan D em ocratic as long as we can be; dicta
to rsh ip only if we are fo rc e d to it, a n d insofar as we are fo rc e d suggested
that p e rh a p s th e SD A Ps firm stan d was only rh etorical a fte r all.137 A test o f
how far the party was p re p a r e d to go to d e fe n d the balance o f forces cam e
s o o n e r th a n th e socialists e x p e c te d .138
O n July 15, 1927, a sp o n ta n e o u s a n d massive w orker revolt in V ienna
directly challenged th e SD A Ps central d oc trin e a n d p u t the survival o f the
repu b lic in q u e stio n .139 By th e e n d o f th e day the Palace o f Justice as well as
th e Reichspost b uildin g h a d b een b u rn e d , 89 p ersons h a d b e e n killed, a n d
5 00 to 1,000 w oun d ed . O n the previous day a ju r y trial in V ienna had fo u n d
th re e right-w ing activists, accused o f m u rd e rin g a socialist m an a n d boy,
in n o c e n t o f all w ro n g d o in g . A fiery editorial in Die Arbeiter-Zeitung o n the
m o rn in g o f July 15 d e n o u n c e d the acquittal as an o u tra g e o u s exam ple o f
class justice. S po n taneo usly w orkers left th e ir factories, shops, an d hom es
a n d m ade th eir way along the fashionable Ringstrasse to the squ are facing
th e Palace o f Justice.
In the b e g in n in g stages o f this developing c o n fro n ta tio n betw een the
V iennese w orking class a n d the real a n d symbolic agents o f law an d o rd e r,
th e socialist leadersh ip avoided taking a stand. O tto B au er actually hid from
a d elegation o f electrical w orkers who cam e to party h e a d q u a rte rs to
d e m a n d o rd e rs to sh u t dow n p ow er p la n ts.140 T h e m any th o usan d s who h ad
g a th e re d in fr o n t o f th e Palace o f Ju stice by n o o n w ere left to act as a sp o n
ta n e o u s mass; n o o n e c o uld blam e the SDAP fo r having o rd e re d o r plan n ed
anything. T h e police was com pletely u n p r e p a r e d a n d th e re fo re u n d e r
m a n n e d because th e ir chief, Jo h a n n e s S chober, h a d been told by SDAP
leaders th a t n o official d e m o n stra tio n was planned.
M o u n te d police seeking to clear the key streets set off the violence, d u r
ing th e c o u rse o f which the police w ere in stru c te d by th eir superiors to fire
h urried ly issued arm y rifles point-blank into the crowds, while various build
ings w ere set ablaze. In the h e a t o f the struggle th e re was a w idespread
d e m a n d by w orkers a n d m em b ers o f th e S ch u tz b u n d (created by the SDAP
in 1923 precisely to p ro te c t the w orkers in situations such as this) fo r the
d istrib u tio n o f arms. Socialist a n d tra d e u n io n leaders refu sed to a pp rov e a
c o urse which n o d o u b t w ould have led to civil war. D iso rd er a n d violence
c o n tin u e d in th e working-class districts th ro u g h o u t th e 16th. A national
strike o f tra n sp o rta tio n a n d in fo rm atio n services, called the same day fo r an
indefinite perio d, was m ad e ineffective outside V ienna, even in industrial
towns, by heavily a rm e d H eim w eh r u nits acting as auxiliary police.
In the a fte rm a th ihe SDAP so u gh t by to u g h language to force C hancel
lor Ignaz Seipel to m ake concessions such as calling new elections, g ra n tin g
a general amnesty, o r initiating a parliam entary investigation. But Seipel
sto o d his g ro u n d an d refused any real c o m p ro m ise .1'" It was a p p a re n t that
m unicipal socialism an d the socialist party cu ltu re in Vienna had m ade no
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social p rob lem s b efo re them , w ithout being able to wait fo r party doyens
a n d theorists to h a m m e r o u t e n ab lin g theory. As I have a tte m p te d to d e m
o nstra te , they w ere pragm atists in the spirit o f A ustrom arxism ; the th e o re t
ical justificatio n fo r th e ir decisions o fte n lim ped b eh in d the events. As we
tu r n to the u n iq u e V iennese ex p e rim e n ta tio n with m unicipal socialism, it
will b ecom e clear th a t d u rin g its early years practical im provisation was
based on th e choices left o p e n by the vagueness o f the A ustrom arxist h e ri
tage. Being u n fe tte re d by an inflexible th eoretical fram ew ork was an a dvan
tage in dealing with u n p re d ic ta b le a n d ch anging realities in daily practice.
But as we shall see, th at fre e d o m gave im m ense po w er to a small g ro u p o f
leaders to fashion m unicipal refo rm s using themselves, th e ir personalities
a n d no rm s o f socialization, as th e yardstick. T he d a n g e r loom ed large that,
in stead o f the A ustrom arxist aim o f liberating th e w orkers to act with a
h ig h e r consciousness, a paternalist pragm atism w ould a tte m p t to impose
p ro g ra m s a n d refo rm s on w orkers w ithout including them in the process.
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h o u sin g co n stru c tio n fro m 1915 to 1924. In the d ecade b e fo re the war a
yearly average o f 9 ,3 0 0 domiciles h a d b e e n built fo r the private housing
m a rk e t.4
It is to th e socialists credit that they recognized the d e te rm in in g role
h o u sin g w ould have to play in th e ir a tte m p t to make V ienna th e showcase
fo r m unicipal socialism. T h eir plans a n d expectations w ent fu rth e r. D ecent
h o u sin g becam e the c o rn e rs to n e o f the SD A Ps p ro ject to create the
o rd en tlich e A rbeiterfam ilie, a p hrase co n n o tin g n o t only orderliness but
also decency and respectability.5 In o th e r words, the socialists aim ed beyond
m unicipal refo rm s tow ard an all-encom passing p ro le ta ria n c u ltu re in which
the physical co n te x t o f a certain type o f hab itatio n would play a central o rg a
nizing role. E nvironm entalism was an im p o rta n t aspect o f A ustrom arxist
subjectivism a n d was th e u n w ritte n basis o f m unicipal reform . Theoretically
it h a d a g re a te r affinity to neo-L am arkianism th a n to Darwin, whose theory
m ad e n o allowance fo r h u m a n in terv en tio n in evolution an d p re c lu d e d the
socialists belief th at they could be th e midwives in the creatio n o f n eu e
M en sch en . As we shall see in c h a p te r 6, o n th e questio n o f b irth co ntrol
th e city fathers, led by Ju liu s T an d ler, the councilor fo r health a n d social
welfare, a d o p te d a eugenic view akin to social Darwinism .6
T h e idea o f c reatin g a total cultural en v iro n m e n t grew gradually an d
h ap h azard ly o u t o f the socialist city fa th e rs a ttem p ts to b rin g som e relief to
the h o usin g crisis. W hereas th e re m ight have been a th eoretical affinity
betw een these two aims, in practice they w ere frequ ently at odds, as th e chal
lenge to m ake available the largest n u m b e r o f livable domiciles (with at least
som e o f th e basic am enities o f th e pro m ised d e c e n t life) conflicted with a
grow ing socialist co m m itm ent to c reatin g a special kind o f living env iro n
m e n t fo r the co n tro lled socialization o f th e working-class family. W ith o ut a
d o u b t th e n a tu re o f public hou sin g in Vienna, n o t only because o f its obvi
ous visibility b u t also because o f the underly ing reasons fo r its particu lar
characteristics, becam e th e to u c h sto n e o f th e a tte m p t to create a socialist
p arty culture.
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cen tral kitchen a n d din in g room , light cooking facilities in each ap artm e n t,
a c entral laundry, a n d a staff o f h o u sek eepers a n d cooks w ho professionally
p e rfo rm e d th e no rm al ho u sew ork o f each ten ant.
In o th e r w ords, th e H e im h o f c o n fo rm e d rem arkably to the partial
socialization B auer h a d p ro p o s e d f o u r years earlier. But the socialist ra p
p o r te u r o f the d e m a n d fo r c redits to the cooperative never c o n sidered the
advantages o f this m odel o r the feasibility o f e x te n d in g the ex perim ent. H e
merely re s p o n d e d to an e arlier ob jection by th e Christian Social councilw om an, G abriele W alter, th a t th e b u ild ing s collective a rra n g e m e n ts u n d e r
m ined th e housewifely fu n c tio n o f w om en, by a rgu ing th at only a small n u m
b e r o f peo p le w ere involved in the v e n tu re a n d th at the p o p u la tio n at large
w ould n o t b e aifected by it o n e way o r th e o th e r.38 H e im h o f was again on
th e council ag end a in 1925, w hen m unicipal financing fo r the extension o f
th e cooperative to 246 a p a rtm e n ts was pro p o sed . Again, th e re was n o real
d e b a te a bo u t the m erit o f this type o f housing, only o bstructionist a rg u
m en ts from th e m inority a n d a d e m a n d fo r th e acceptance o f an atypical
h o u sin g v e n tu re by th e socialist m ajority.37
T h e a p a rtm e n ts in H e im h o f tu r n e d o u t to be to o expensive fo r w orker
b udgets, because the c o n stru c tio n techniques a n d m aintenan ce o f a single
small com plex w ere to o costly. But th e high quality o f life fo r its fo rtu n a te
te n a n ts was n e v e r in d o u b t. T he e x p an sio n o f 1925 in clu d ed a r o o f terrace
with showers, a n d b etw een mealtim es co n v erted the attractive d inin g ro o m
in to a cafe amply su pp lied with c u rre n t re a d in g m aterial.38 T he idea o f p r o
fessionalization o f h ou sew ork in th e new building projects o f the m unici
pality d ie d w ith this ex p erim en t. But th e SDAP h a d nev er really p re se n te d
th e positive aspects o f this h ou sin g m od el to th e workers. O n e searches in
vain th ro u g h th e pages o f Die Arbeiter-Zeitung, fo r instance, fo r a discussion
a b o u t ad a p tin g th e H e im h o f partial socialization fo r mass housing. W hat
o n e finds is th e negative assessm ent o f such possibilities by th e socialist lum i
nary O tto N e u ra th .39 T h e workers, h e claimed, did n o t w ant such centraliza
tion o f personal n eed s o n a com m u nal basis; such innovations could only be
realized in the fu tu re. But how did N e u ra th o r any socialist party fu n c tio n
ary o r m unicipal councillor know w hat th e w orkers w a n te d ?
W h e th e r working-class w om en u n d e rs to o d th e possible advantages o f
professionalized housew ork (especially com m unal kitchens) rem ains d o u b t
ful. L e ic h te rs study o f industrial w orkers reveals a great deal o f confusion
a b o u t w hat such socialization w ould involve.40 Som e w om en expressed the
fe a r th at it w ould ro b th e m o f th e individuality a n d feeling o f co n tro l ex p e
rien ced at ho m e, replacing it with th e m o n o to n y a n d com plusion they ex p e
rien ced in the w orkplace; o th e rs th o u g h t th e cost w ould be to o high.
Y ounger, single w om en w ere m o re favorably disposed to th e idea. But n o n e
seem ed to be well info rm ed , to have re a d a b o u t the possibility o f com bining
family individuality a n d collective facilities, o r to know a b o u t the existence
of H eim hof.
T h r o u g h o u t th e tw o b u ild in g p e rio d s f ro m 1924 to 1 9 3 3 , w h e n th e 3 7 7
h o u s in g p ro je c ts w e re p la n n e d a n d b u ilt, th e S D A I failed to c o n d u c t a sin
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was conceived o r c arried ou t, the m ost significant o f the 370 stru ctu res con
tin u e to m ake th e ir im posing p resen ce felt. At the time these were called
p e o p le s palaces, reflecting b o th th e ir m o n u m e n ta l a p p e a ra n c e a n d their
p o p u la r use.68 D espite a g reat variety o f architectural styles, th e basic c o u rt
yard o rie n ta tio n was used, giving buildings a n d com plexes an inwardtu rn e d , b o th protective a n d excluding aspect.69 O n e could qu ite easily an d
w itho u t ex ag g eratio n view them , as th e city fathers did, as p role ta ria n oases
in which s un a n d light, space a n d c o lor set the to n e o f a new fo rm o f decent
a n d dignified living.
But w hereas th e re was a striving fo r m on u m en talism in the e x te rio r of
th e projects, th e in te rio r o f the a p a rtm e n ts suffered fro m minimalism. In
th e first p ro g ra m o f 2 5 ,00 0 units, 75 p e rc e n t had 38 sq u are m eters (410
s q u a re feet) o f space, a n d 25 p e rc e n t h a d 48 sq u are m eters (518 squ are
feet), typically with a living r o o m /k itc h e n a n d additional b e d ro o m o r h alf
b e d ro o m . In th e second p ro g ra m , a fte r 1928, the m ajority o f apa rtm e n ts
h a d 40 sq u are m eters (432 sq u are feet), while a sm aller n u m b e r h a d 49 o r
57 sq u a re m eters (529 o r 6 15 sq u a re feet). T he typical layout in this later
g ro u p re d u c e d th e kitchen to a functional small ro o m sep arated from a liv
ing room . S ta n d a rd in all a p a rtm e n ts w ere electricity, ru n n in g cold water,
gas fo r cooking, a toilet with a foyer se p aratin g it from th e o th e r room s, tiled
kitchen a n d toilet floors, a n d h a rd w o o d p a rq u e t flooring in th e rooms.
N o d o u h l th ese m u n icip al a p a rtm e n ts re p re s e n te d a c o n sid e ra b le phys
ical i m p r o v e m e n t o v e r t h e t y p i c a l t e n e m e n t h a b i t a t i o n . Bill t h e y a l s o fell
LEGEND:
P
Heu
St
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P ra te r
H eu rig en
S ta d iu m
S u p e rb lo c k p e o p l e s p alaces
w ith 8 0 0 o r m o re a p a r tm e n ts
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Model living room in Karl-Marx-Hof. Few workers could afford to buy this
functional furniture. (VGA)
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go b ey on d th e daily co n ta c t points at the hallway w ater faucet a n d coal cellar
to the ex ch ang e o f services such as baby sitting, a n d to large festivities
involving collective dining, singing, a n d d a n cing am o ng relatives, friends,
a n d neig h b o rs.83
T h e n u c le a r family o f th e m unicipal houses p arents a n d on e o r two
ch ild re n e x p e rie n c e d an u n accustom ed privacy which alte rn a te d with
necessary p a rticip ation in highly co n tro lled public facilities.84 Municipal
h o u sin g thus c re a te d two form s o f th e w orker family: o n e was isolated as a
small family w ithin its f o u r walls a n d basic utilities, a n d shut off from sp o n
ta n e o u s p e e r c o n tact th ro u g h landings with only two to fo u r a partm ents
a n d n arro w stairwells; the o th e r was p a rt o f th e large building family o f
sh a re d facilities re p re se n tin g the com m unity, th eir class, a n d th e ir party.
Som e aspects o f daily family life re m a in e d im pervious to th e new su rro u n d
ings: p a re n ts a n d ch ild ren c o n tin u e d to share th e same b ed ro o m ; the living
ro o m /k itc h e n in the sm aller ap a rtm e n ts rem ain ed the c e n te r o f family life;
a n d the large pieces o f fu rn itu re from te n e m e n t days dw arfed the room s
a n d could n o t be rep laced with the costly m o d e rn , m o d u la r units praised
a n d re c o m m e n d e d in th e party publications.86
It w ould surely be an e r r o r to view th e m unicipal hou sin g p ro g ra m o f
th e SDAP m erely as a m eans o f im proving th e life-styles o f th e w orkers o f
prov id ing additional conveniences, space, air, light, a n d so on. J u d g e d in
this resp ect alone o r prim arily, this p a rt o f m unicipal socialism is o p e n to
serious criticism o n the basis o f w hat alternatives were possible in Vienna
a n d accom plished in o th e r cities. T he p e o p le s p alaces w ere fro m the first
in te n d e d to be m o re th a n b e tte r housing. T hey w ere to provide the allim p o rta n t en v iro n m e n t in which the w orker family would be socialized so
as to becom e ordentlich a n d be e d u c a te d by an e m ergin g party cultu re in the
d ire c tio n o f n e u e M en schen. 87
Life outside th e cell-like a p a rtm e n ts was strictly reg im en ted by the h o u s
ing m an agem ent. T h e p a te rn a l m anagerial s tru c tu re , which drew its a u th o r
ity directly fro m the h o u sin g b u re a u o f th e m unicipal council, included a
co ncierge c h a rg e d with prescrib in g a n d en fo rc in g building rules (the time
a n d place to beat ru gs a n d d eposit refuse; how a n d w h ere children should
play in the co u rty ard ; th e a p p e a ra n c e o f hallways, cellars, a n d balconies;
etc.).88 T h e re was also a la un d ry supervisor who sch ed uled th e m onthly wash
days o f each family, kep t all b u t the w om en o u t o f the washing facility (on
th e p ru d ish g ro u n d s o f p ro te c tin g fem ale modesty), a n d supervised the use
o f m achinery; an a p a rtm e n t in sp ecto r who m ade m onthly visits to all d o m
iciles to ascertain th e ir state o f m ain tenan ce a n d to receive re p o rts o f infractions o f th e rules fro m the concierge (children playing o n the grass in the
c o u rty a rd were duly m ark ed dow n in a book o f infractions); a n d an array o f
e x p e rts in the clinics, consultation centers, kind erg arten s, a n d libraries
whose function was above all tutelary.
T h e ten an ts o f the new m unicipal ho usin g w ere c o n fro n te d with stru c
tures, spaces, room s, facilities, a n d rules o f o p e ra tio n devised fo r them , all
in place a n d im pervious to influences o r d em an ds from below. It was not so
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f t n T IT T T
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M oreover, it ex p o sed him to quite ju stified attacks within his own ranks fo r
having a d o p te d th e non-M arxist view th a t pedagogy was som ehow a neutral
science.180
T h a t th e socialist city fathers su ffered fro m a lack o f realism was espe
cially a p p a re n t in th e ir belief th at the ed ucational re fo rm p ro g ra m they
strug g led to p u t in place was d esired by th e Viennese w orking class o r was
high on its agend a o f needs. Given th e low wages a n d the n e e d fo r young
peop le residing with th eir p a re n ts to c o n trib u te to th e m eager h ousehold
bu dg et, h ig h e r e d ucation , even if the fees were paid by so m eo n e else, still
m ean t th a t th e family h a d to u n d e rta k e the impossible task o f s u p p o rtin g
o n e o f its m em bers fo r years to c o m e .181 As a co n seq uen ce o f this blocked
p ath , working-class families h a d little use fo r talk o f the professions fo r their
offspring. V ocational trainin g leading to b e tte r skills, a m ore qualified jo b ,
a n d h ig h er pay was a n o th e r m atter. But that lay within existing workingclass no rm s o f expectation. T h e re w ere m o re incentives d u rin g the period
fo r skills c re a te d by the increase in white-collar jo b s , and the one-child fam
ily was in a b e tte r position to m ake sacrifices fo r the econom ic a dvancem ent
o f th e ir offspring. Ju d g in g fro m som e absenteeism record s in a typical work
ing-class district, schooling fo r its ow n sake, including enrich m en ts, was n o t
highly r e g a r d e d .182
W ho a m o n g th e w orkers in the socialist cam p were able to benefit from
ed ucation al reform s? T h e traditional answ er w ould be the single children o f
better-off skilled w orkers able to sh o u ld e r the financial b u rd e n o f m aintain
ing a n o n c o n trib u tin g youth past the age o f fo u rteen . But such families also
su ffered fro m insecurity caused by co n tin u o u s high levels o f un em p loy m en t
(am ong skilled w orkers in m etal trades, fo r instance). M ore likely, it was the
ch ild ren o f p aid party fu n ctio naries a n d socialist m unicipal employees with
secu re a n d b e tte r-p a id positions who could take advantage o f en rich m en t
a n d m o re equal access to h ig h er e d u c a tio n .183 This brings us to a central
q uestio n re g a rd in g m unicipal socialism a n d ultimately th e Socialist party
c u ltu re as well: which w orkers w ere the actual audience, who a n d how m any
p a rtic ip a te d o r w ere influenced indirectly? T hese questions a p p e a r n o t to
have tro u b le d socialist leaders at th e time. I f th e ir m unicipal refo rm
atte m p ts fell sh o rt o f setting the stage fo r creatin g n e u e M en sch en, the
p a rty s own p ro g ra m o f B ildung was b eing devised a n d e x te n d e d daily to d o
j u s t th a t a n d in a c o n tex t th a t was securely socialist.
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I shall exam ine Socialist party c u ltu re from several perspectives: elite cul
tu re a n d c u ltu re theory; the pow er o f the w ritten a n d spoken work; and the
a tte m p ts to en ric h a n d e n n o b le th e w o rkers artistic taste. T he im pact o f
these was re stric te d to a m inority o f the ran k a n d file. Sports and w orker
festivals, my last subject fo r discussion, were th e most im p o rtan t cultural
fo rm s a tte m p tin g to eng ag e th e mass o f w orkers in activities th at w ere b o th
actual and symbolic.
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fren zied belief th a t a g r e a te r cultural effort could som ehow safeguard the
re p u blic a n d the party as well. The p a rty s slogan against the idea o f force,
the force o f ideas tu r n e d o u t to be a costly illusion.39
M agical P o w e rs o f th e W ord
In the SD A Ps a tte m p t to raise the w orkers to a h ig h er cultural level, a strat
egy in th e c reatio n o f a p role ta ria n c o u n te rc u ltu re , th e w ord and p articu
larly the p rin te d w ord played a central role. F o r the p a rty s ch ief educational
re fo rm e r, O tto Glckel, th e book is th e strongest w eapon in the class stru g
gle. . . . It raises th e q u estio n o f why . . . a n d the why is th e means to intel
lectual dev elo pm ent a n d knowledge. . . . O n c e people have the cou rag e to
gain knowledge, they m ust becom e socialists. 40 Such in n o cent idealism
echoes the special im p o rta n c e a ccord ed to the p rin te d w ord by G erm an lib
eralism. A n o th e r stro n g influence o n the socialists overevaluation o f the
p o w e r o f the book, it has be e n suggested, was th e b o o k s high valuation in
Jew ish trad itio n, given the p re d o m in a n c e o f Jew s am o n g original A ustromarxists a n d th eir p ra c titio n e r epigones in the repu b lic.41 We shall look
m o re closely at th e socialists intoxication with th e w ord a n d th eir ex pecta
tions a b o u t its magical pow ers o f tran sfo rm atio n in the c o ntext o f the party
press a n d publications, lectures a n d party ed ucation , a n d w orker libraries.
By 1930 th e SDAP, tra d e unions, a n d cooperative societies published
127 new spapers a n d jo u rn a ls with a total p rin t ru n o f 3 ,1 6 1,0 0 0 copies.
This included 7 dailies, 68 specialized periodicals (addressed to tenants,
consum ers, teeto talers, cadres, m oth ers, w om en, a n d those in terested in
culture, to m en tio n b u t a few), a n d 52 trad e u n io n weeklies.42 As Langewiesche has p o in te d o u t, this avalanche o f socialist a n d associated publica
tions b e to k e n e d n o t r e a d e r interest b u t a lack o f co o rd in a tio n .43 A critic o f
this publication m ania hypothesized how many books o f 250 pages each
w ould be available to every m e m b e r o f a socialist organization based o n the
p rin t ru n o f 3.16 million ju s t cited, a n d c o n c lu d e d th at everyone would
receive forty books a year. T o illustrate how w orkers could n o t possibly deal
with this flood o f publications, h e c o n ju re d u p a typical periodical diet a
V iennese party cad re m ight be exp o sed to. Besides a subscription to Die
Arbeiter-Zeitung, h e w ould get two tra d e un io n publications, Der Vertrauens
mann, a n d the V iennese p arty organ, Der Sozialdemokrat, as well as o th e r
publications o f th e m unicipal party organization. H e m ight also receive
autom atically publications such as the te n a n ts association organ, the
S c h u tz b u n d a n d crem a tio n society new sletters, as well as those o f any o f the
forty cultural o rganizations he belo n ged to. If he was m arried, his wife
received an equal pack o f m aterial.44
T h e p o in t is n o t to la m p o o n th e SD A Ps publishing efforts b u t to express
som e d o u b t a b o u t the relationship o f the huge publication figures given a n d
the actual n u m b e r o f w o rk er readers. A closer look at who read what leads
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Ii rem ains to gain some perspective 011 the fo rego ing num erical 110m an's-land. T he SDAP sought to bring the working class into its fold with
th e sh e e r n u m b e rs o f its varied publications to overwhelm w orkers with a
flood o f p rin te d m aterial easily available. Only a fter 1927 did the party c o n
sider o th e r m eans based o n the interests o f their audience. But even with
the in tro d u c tio n o f m o re p o p u la r organs such as Das kleine Blatt, its publi
cations with huge editions, such as Die Frau, rem ained virtually unchanged.
T he party leaders evidently assum ed that captive audiences were available,
since as m em bers they received a good n u m b e r o f publications free o f
charge. Die Frau was d istrib u te d to all female party m em bers, b u t L e ic h te rs
study reveals th a t it was hardly read. T h e same may be said a b o u t trad e
u n io n pap ers, th e fo rm a t a n d painful dullness o f which m ust have p u t oft
all b u t the m ost m otivated activists an d functionaries.11Even am o n g the elite
s tu d en ts o f the A rb eiterh och schu le (workers college), surely am o n g the
m ost com m itted socialists, only 57 p ercen t read the party new spapers and
periodicals h e a p e d u p o n th e m .12 T he p ro ffe re d pam p h let lite ra tu re m et the
same kind o f re a d e r resistance. A plaintive voice fro m the rank a n d file
revealed that O tto B a u e rs im p o rta n t work Der K am pf um die Macht was
hardly re a d by anyone at his w orkplace, n o t even the cadres. Even if bought,
it was claimed, it was stuck into th e toolbox u n re a d .63
T h e SD A Ps reliance o n the quantity o f its publications failed to make
th em the tra n sm itte rs o f the aspired w orker cu ltu re fo r several reasons.
F o rem o st was th e paternalistic assum ption th at the re a d e rs interest, c u r
re n t habits, a n d m entality n e e d n o t be taken into consideration. Implicitly,
th e party h a d its own ideas a b o u t how to b e tte r in fo rm the w orkers, raise
th e ir cu ltu ral level, a n d p ro m o te th eir consciousness. Failure to u n d e rsta n d
th e w ork er r e a d e r was reflected in the difficult style a n d linguistic usage, as
well as in the fo rm at, o f m ost publications. T o the average V iennese worker,
w ho spoke a b ro a d dialect a n d was accustom ed to the simple form ulations
o f the boulevard press, the p a rty s so b er publications may have suggested
h a r d w ork (like school) r a th e r th a n re c re a tio n .64 Since th e masses o f workers
could n o t cop e with th e flood o f party publications, vast n um bers o f those
p ublications m ust have re m a in e d unread .
W ho th e n w ere the loyal re a d e rs p re p a re d to deal with a good p a rt o f
th e p rin te d m a tte r m ad e available to th e m each week? It was probably a cen
tral co re o f party cadres, paid functionaries, officials o f the trad e unions and
c o o perativ e societies, socialist civil servants, a n d o th e rs whose secure
e m p lo y m en t indirectly stem m ed from the socialist municipality. All in all
this g ro u p pro b ab ly at best c o m p rised a b o u t 30,000 to 3 5 ,0 00 people. This
is n o t to a rg u e th a t a core o f dedicated party m em bers w ere the only readers
o f SDAP publications (even cadres, as we have seen, at least som etim es sim
u la te d th e re a d in g o f the p a rty s principal writings). No d o u b t many workers
c o n su m e d som e o f the available party literature, but they seem to have been
highly selective a n d far fro m con stant in th eir choices. As im p o rta n t in stru
m ents o f th e SD A Ps cultural p ro g ram , its press an d publications a p p e a r not
to have m ad e m u ch headw ay in re ach in g the party ran k a n d file. T h e core
'II
g ro u p e n g ag ed m ost successfully re p re se n te d only som e 7 - 1 0 p ercen t o f
party m em bership. It h a d b een significantly larger in th e p rew ar party. The
ra p id grow th o f the SDAP a fte r 1923 cre a te d a form al m em b ersh ip that in
reality still had to be won over to the socialist cultural perspective o f SDAP
leaders.
N ext to the p rin te d word, the spoken w ord in the form o f lectures was
a well-established fo rm o f w o rk er e d u catio n a n d cultural enligh tenm en t
da tin g from the p re w a r period. It was a m ajo r accom plishm ent o f the Bildu n g szen trale to e x p a n d these into a vast netw ork o f speakers available to
w orker g ro u p s at th e local level. In Vienna, single-lecture evenings grew
fro m 3,000 in 1924 to 6 ,5 00 in 1932. T hese w ere c o n d u c te d at n eig h b o r
h o o d party bran ch es, at Volksheime (peoples clubhouses) in O ttakring, Leop old stadt, L andstrasse, and Brigittenau, a n d in th e m eeting room s o f the
new m unicipal housing. Topics o ffered included c o n te m p o ra ry politics, the
socialist m ovem ent, history, religion, w om ens subjects, ed u catio n, culture,
a n d sexuality, to m en tio n b u t a few. A ttem pts to organize series o f lectures
o n single subjects failed to a ttra c t a sufficient audience.
D espite th e n um erical success o f these lectures, which at least allowed
the B ildungszentrale to put w hat the party co nsidered im p o rtan t subjects
b e fo re w orker audiences, they su ffered from som e fu n d am en tal sh o rtc o m
ings which re d u c e d th e ir value as vehicles o f a socialist party culture. Fre
quently lectu rers faced the in su rm o u n tab le task o f having to p re se n t com
plicated subjects w itho u t sufficient tim e to o ffer the necessary detail. This
m ea n t that w hatever tim e h ad b een set aside fo r this cultural event was used
u p by th e speaker, so th at th e m uch-desired discussion (one o f the central
aims o f such projects) could n o t take place. As o n e sh a rp critic o f the lectu re
p ro g ra m com plained, th e fo rm at led to a superficial ex perience a b o u t
which o n e m ight e x pect r e p o rts such as: T he speaker h a d a pow erful voice,
th e re fo re , he was well liked. 6b A fa r m o re fu n d am en tal critique o f the lec
tu re p ro g ra m an d o th e r aspects o f the SD A Ps cultural efforts cam e from
Max A dler very late in th e day. A vast g u lf h a d o p e n e d betw een th e masses
o f socialist w orkers a n d th e party a n d tra d e u n io n bureaucracy, h e charged,
as was a p p a re n t in cultural endeavors w here listeners gave th eir respectful
a tte n tio n bu t re m a in e d u n e n g a g e d .67
W ith ou t m inim izing the im p o rta n c e o f the SD A Ps lectu re p ro g ra m in
h e lp in g to give w ork er particip an ts a sense o f belo ng ing to the socialist
cam p, o n e m ust express som e d o u b t a b o u t the deg re e to which th e c o n te n t
o f p ro g ram s could be called educational o r cultural in the sense the party
inte n d e d . By fa r th e m ost p o p u la r subject o n th e Viennese circuit were
readings o f a light a n d e n te rta in in g natu re . T hey co m p rised a b ou t 25 p e r
c e n t o f all lectu re topics a n d w ere clearly p o p u la r e n te rta in m e n t r a th e r than
the so b er fare co n sid ered to be culturally uplifting by the SD A Ps culture
e stablishm ent.68 O n e o th e r aspect o f this activity rem ains puzzling. G ra n te d
that 6 ,50 0 single lectures in 1932 was an impressive n u m b e r, n o on e has
b e e n able to ascertain how large the audience o f w orker listeners actually
was. I f one assum es an average g ro u p size o f twenty-five (averaging small
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local audiences with larger ones), the total yearly n u m b e r w ould be abo u t
160,000. Leaving aside the likelihood th at a large n u m b e r o f these were
repeaters atte n d in g several events, it is im perative to look at a tte n d a n c e fig
ures for p o p u la r leisure-tim e activities. In the same targ et year o f 1932 soc
cer matches on a weekly basis drew fro m 150,000 to 20 0 ,0 00 spectators, an d
cinemas 500,000 weekly viewers (see c h a p te r 5). No d o u b t th e lecture p ro
gram played an im p o rta n t p a rt in in teg ratin g a limited n u m b e r o f workers
into an aspect o f party life, b u t th e masses o f workers w ere n o t reach ed by
it, n o r could th e high socialist goals o f th e SDAPs cultural p ro g ra m be really
advanced by it.
The SDAPs co m m itm en t to th e p ow er o f the w ord was also evident in
the various special schools c re a te d to p re p a re its leadership fo r th e task o f
implem enting th e p a rty s p ro g ram s.69 T hese schools w ere given th e task o f
transm itting the essentials o f A ustrom arxist thought, o f s tre n g th e n in g the
loyalty o f lower-level leaders to the h ig h e r echelons, a n d o f inculcating a
revolutionary lan to be tran sm itte d th ro u g h the cultural an d o th e r p ro
grams o f the party. T hey re p re se n te d a specialized a n d very limited aspect
o f the B ildungszentrales cu ltu ral activities an d w ere only peripherally
related to its a ttem p ts to reach the masses o f work'-rs. T h e th re e types o f
schools, in ascending o rd e r, w ere A rbeiterschulen fo r party cadres, Parteischulen for functionaries, a n d an A rbeiterhochschule fo r fu tu re high-level
leaders. T he c u rriculu m in all o f th e m stressed socialist theory, party o rg a
nization, and c u rre n t politics, with a progressive increase in theory a nd dif
ficulty o f subjects. T h e cad re schools o ffered courses ru n n in g a b ou t ten eve
nings; the functionaries received evening instruction fo r a th ree-m o n th
period; an d the w ork ers college o ffered six m onth s o f instru ctio n in a res
ident cam pus setting.
T he n u m b ers involved at all th re e levels were small, accou n tin g for
about 12 p e rc e n t o f b o th cadres a n d functionaries fo r th e first two, an d a
total o f 114 p ersons in the fo u r years th e A rb eiterh o chsch ule was in o p e r
ation. T h e social d istrib ution in th e party schools says m u ch a b o u t the com
position o f the party leadership in general. W orkers w ere greatly u n d e r r e p
resented a m o n g th e stu den ts, while employees a n d civil servants were
greatly o v e rre p re se n te d .70 T hese varied attem pts to p re p a re the party lead
ership ideologically fo r its varied tasks w ere certainly co m m endable, b u t one
notices a decided absence in the cu rric u lu m o f any in stru ction a b o u t the
workers themselves, th e ir traditions, life-styles, com m unities, a n d general
sense o f milieu which would have b e e n crucial in translating the SD A Ps
heavy investm ent in c u ltu re into ways that might have fo u n d p o p u la r
response a n d acceptance.
F o r the socialist cultural leaders, n e ith e r periodicals n o r lectures
em bodied the magical pow ers o f th e w o rd as well as books. T he develop
m ent o f a large netw ork o f w orker libraries becam e th e central aim an d
crow ning achievem ent o f (he Bildungszentrale. Today, when we have
be com e som ew hat skeptical about the transfo rm in g pow er o f books, the
socialists long list o f exp ectatio ns seems refreshingly idealistic but also
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naive.71 It was believed that th ro u g h books the w orker could be w eaned away
from ch eap am u sem en ts such as Gasthuser, th a t his basic ignorance a bo u t
th e w orld could be re d u c e d , that he could gradually be guided along an
increm en tal pa th o f literary quality to a pp reciate the serious works o f social
science a n d Marxism, a n d that th ro u g h them h e would be m ade ready to
tra n sfo rm th e chaos o f capitalism into a rational socialist o rd e r. The p re
scribed pa th led from know ledge a ttained th ro u g h h a rd work an d diligence
to th e class struggle at a h ig h er level. It d e m a n d e d m u ch too m uch, as we
shall see from the w o rker who was not the ideal type imagined by the
S D A Ps experts.
T h e w orker libraries, like m any o th e r socialist cultural institutions, were
already well d eveloped b e fo re the war. In 1910 various dispersed libraries
were centralized o n a districtw ide basis. Two years later Joseph L uitpold
S tern took over the netw ork u n d e r the aegis o f the B ildungszentrale. In
1914 he published a h a n d b o o k fo r librarians which becam e the bible fo r the
o rganization o f w ork er libraries a n d the tasks o f librarians.72 In it h e p ro
po sed a m odel s tru c tu re fo r all cen ters a n d branches, an d fo r centralized
purchasing; a u n ifo rm system o f cataloguing; a n d a m an dato ry g atherin g o f
statistics by each u n it o n m em bership, titles received, an d books published.
S te r n s m ain c o n c e rn in p ro m o tin g the w orker libraries was to com bat the
trash a n d kitsch to which he believed the w orkers, m o re than others, were
e x p o se d .73
This q u est fo r the e n n o b le m e n t o f cultural p ro d u c ts to be consum ed by
th e w orkers becam e a m ain co m p o n e n t o f the SD A Ps cultural p ro g ra m .74
I f books w ere to play a c en tral role in re o rie n tin g the workers, Stern
insisted, libraries w ould have to u n d e rg o the same rationalization as that
b eing in tro d u c e d in in du stry .75 T he p u rp o se o f such centralization, aside
fro m savings to be gained, was con tro l by the B ildungszentrale over the
books m ade available as well as over the read ers themselves. T he workerlib ra ria n , he m ain tained, m ust act as the m oral confessor o f his w orker
c o m ra d e s. 76 His c en tral task, accordingly, was to guide readers an d to
e n c o u ra g e th em to advance fro m simple belles lettres to m ore difficult and
valuable social a n d analytical texts o f socialism a n d science. Above all,
d etailed reco rd s w ere to be kept, a n d bran ch es w ere to be judged on the
basis o f th e m o re vigilance, th e m o re success. 77 S te rn s m oralizing atti
tu d e in his cam paign against trash a n d kitsch a n d o n be h a lf o f cultural e n n o
b lem ent set the to n e fo r the SDA Ps ideological a p p ro a c h to the function
o f reading. In place o f an evaluation o f the needs o f re a d e rs and their
choices carried o u t by a Marxist analysis (which one m ight have expected,
given th e eq u a tio n o f M arxism with social science by the fo u n d in g A ustromarxists), we find sentim ental preaching.
D espite the prevalence o f such n arro w views am o n g the cultural d irec
to rate, the w orker libraries a p p e a re d to flourish.78 By 1927 m o re th a n a mil
lion books w ere loaned o u t annually. T h e com b in ation o f attractively
d esigned a n d fu rn ish e d b ran ch es (many o f th em located in the new m unic
ipal housing), 53 well-stocked central libraries, a n d 1,064 dedicated volun
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95
p e rc e n t o f th e b o rro w e rs.84 In 1897 middle-class liberals fo u n d e d the Verein Z entralbibliothek, closely associated with th e University o f Vienna, to
p ro vid e scientific enlig h te n m e n t free o f all religious a n d political influ
e nces.85 By 1910 it h a d tw enty-four b ran ch es in V ienna a n d Low er A ustria
which lo an ed o u t 3.5 million volumes. In 1918 th a t n u m b e r ex p lo d ed to 10
million. O w ing to the decline o f liberalism a fter the war a n d the lower fees
ch a rg e d by the w o rker libraries, the books b o rro w e d declined to 3 million
in 1936.
W hat books w ere b o rro w e d fro m the w orker libraries? Did the librarians
succeed in carefully g uiding w orkers fro m light read in g to the sciences
a n d social sciences which w ere co n sid ered th e tru e cultural enrichm ents?
Belles lettres (novels, sh o rt stories, poetry, dram a) consistently acco u nted
f o r 8 3 - 8 7 .3 p e rc e n t o f th e books borrow ed. W orks o n science, which
in clu d ed largely escapist travel literatu re, c o n stitu ted 5 - 9 p ercen t, and
social science, th e m ost im p o rta n t category fro m the p o int o f view o f the
SDAP, a m o u n te d to 5 .8 - 8 .4 p e rc e n t.86 An in ternal critic charg ed that the
statistics a b o u t social science works w ere heavily inflated, th a t librarians
a d m itted th a t such works, even w hen b orro w ed, w ere freq uently r e tu rn e d
u n re a d . H e u rg e d th at the w o rk er libraries a b a n d o n th e fetishistic a ttach
m e n t to this category a n d pay m o re a tte n tio n to the realities a n d fantasies
in w o rkers lives.87
T h e re a d e rs o f th e w o rk e r libraries may have failed to live u p to the high
intellectual stan d ard s e x p e c te d o f them by S te rn an d o thers, b u t they did
n o t fail them selves in p roviding fo r th e ir own e n te rta in m e n t, relaxation,
a n d en lig h ten m en t. A listing o f the m ost p o p u la r au th o rs in V iennese
w ork er libraries fo r 1933 includ ed the G erm an-language w riters Stefan
Zweig, Ja k o b W asserm ann, Erich M aria R em arqu e, a n d Klara Viebig; the
internationally fam ous Ja c k L o n d o n , U p to n Sinclair, Emile Zola, T h e o d o re
D reiser, a n d B. T raven; as well as th e p o p u la r b u t (for the Bildungszentrale)
un desirab le w riters L udw ig G a n g h o fe r a n d H u g o B e tta u e r.88 T he choice
revealed a very stro n g in terest in social novels a n d a cosm opolitan taste,
even th o u g h the a d v e n tu re fiction o f Ja m e s F enim o re C oo p er, A lexander
D um as, a n d Ju les V e rn e c o n tin u e d to be p op u lar. T he SD A Ps culture
ex p e rts should have b e e n delig h ted with th eir re a d e rs choices. But they
seem ed fixated o n c o n v ertin g w orker read ers in to collective-m inded an d
fu tu re -d ire c te d cham p io n s read ied by th eir m astery o f socialist classics to
take u p the class struggle at a h ig h er level. F ro m th eir perspective, the ability
to choose c o uld n o t be left to the workers.
T h e p a rty s struggle against trash a n d kitsch was all-consum ing an d
reach ed ridiculous b u t also d a n g e ro u s heights. A n exam ple o f this m ania is
the attack on Karl May, th e a u th o r o f n u m e ro u s A m erican Wild W est adven
tu res fe a tu rin g th e white h u n te r O ld S c h a tte rh a n d a n d th e noble In d ian
chieftain W inn eto u , a n d a series a b o u t A rabia as well. As early as 1910 Stern
attacked these novels as unrealistic and rom antic, claiming that they led
y outh into d a n g e ro u s a d v e n tu re s.89 T h e attack was co n tin u e d a fter the war,
an d Mays books w ere rem oved from the w orker libraries and, as pari ol
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Such a heavy ex p o su re to elite cu ltu re was co n so n an t with B achs oftenstated view th at all tru e art is revolutionary a n d acts in a revolutionary
way, a n d that the c o n q u e st o f tru e a rt [by th e workers] is a p a rt o f the
c u ltu ral ideal o f socialism. 97
W hat exactly was m ea n t by tru e a r t rem ain ed an o p e n questio n that
n e ith e r Bach n o r any o th e r socialist cultural d ire c to r answ ered with any p r e
cision. It in clud ed dram as o f a clearly social, socialist, proletarian, an d rev
o lu tio n ary c o n te n t a n d m o d e rn form . Claims have b e e n m ade, th e n and
m o re recently, that Bach succeeded in p ro m o tin g the p e rfo rm a n c e o f m o d
e r n expressionist plays which would otherw ise have been avoided by the th e
a te rs.98 Karl Mark, the fo rm e r party secretary o f the district o f Dobling,
rejects the assertion that th e Kunststelle a tte m p te d to sp o n so r m o re m o d
e rn , socialist-oriented plays.99 H e reco un ts that Bach was p re p a re d to let the
p ro d u c tio n o f B recht a n d W eills Dreigroschenoper close because o f bad
reviews, a n d th a t its co n tin u a tio n a n d success was fo rced by the D obling
p arty section, which h a d b o u g h t o u t h alf the house. It was only the initiative
o f individual districts, h e insisted, which m ade the p ro d u c tio n o f plays with
a d ecid ed socialist c o n te n t by E rnst Toller, F riedrich Wolff, Karl C rede, an d
o th e rs possible. Bach, h e co n clu ded, was simply n o t in terested in bringing
th e a te r to working-class n eig h b o rh o o d s distant from the city center.
W hatev er B achs inclinations, as long as h e p u rc h a se d blocks o f tickets
in existing theaters, he was fo rced to abide by th eir scheduled p ro d u ctio n s
a n d to include a g oo d n u m b e r o f trivial plays fo r the few original ones he
could p ro m o te . It was clear that, w ithout at least on e th e a te r o f its own, the
SD A P s aim o f providing w orkers with plays that fit its n o tio n o f cultural
e n lig h te n m e n t could go n o fu rth e r. In 1928 th e Kunststelle a c q u ired the
C arlth e a te r, which closed a fte r two p ro d u c tio n s because o f financial diffi
culties. T h e long-standing dissatisfaction with B achs m anag em ent bo th
w ithin the Kunststelle a n d outside it was aired in public. T he o p e n in g salvo
h a d be e n fired by Karl K raus w hen he attacked th e diet o f trivial plays an d
o p e re tta s o ffered to th e w orkers as being (in a play on words) an Stelle d e r
K un st. Kraus also d e m a n d e d to know why the Kunststelle was c o n ten t to
b e a ticket b u re a u when, in view o f the large audience it m ade available to
th e th eaters, it should have influenced a n d d e te rm in e d the pro gram s
them selves.100
A m o re fu n d a m e n ta l critique o f the e n tire o rie n ta tio n a n d p ro g ra m o f
the Kunststelle cam e fro m O tto Leichter, one o f the editors o f Die ArbeiterZeitu7ig.10' D espite the fact th at the Kunststelle had m o re possibilities than
any o th e r org an ization save those in Soviet Russia to create p roletarian cul
tural form s, he c h arg ed , in th e ten years o f its existence it had failed to real
ize its potential. This failure could be a ttrib u te d in part to the unwillingness
o f party fun ction aries to engage in cultural work that was o p e n to criticism,
a n d in p a rt to the m unicipalitys inability to provide ad e q u a te financial su p
p o rt, given its heavy investm ent in public housing. But most o f all, he
insisted, cultural d em an d s h a d aim ed to o high, and too m uch had been
ex p ected o f the w orkers in a tutelary m a n n e i. T he charge, thinly veiled, was
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101
housew ife a n d th a t she should paint h e r walls in plain colors to attain a calm
ing effect.121 Only th e n should pictures be chosen carefully a po rtrait o f
o n e o f the socialist leaders o r a familiar a n d pleasant landscape. In short,
a p ictu re th a t suits every m o o d a n d does n o t d istu rb any gu e st.
I f this a p p ro a c h to a rt in th e w o rk e rs private sp h ere was to substitute
o n e fo rm o f kitsch fo r a n o th e r, o th ers were c o n c e rn e d a b o ut e n han cing the
w o rk e rs taste in art by ex p o su re to the very best. Can the c o n tem po rary
p ro le ta ria t achieve the tru e enjoym ent o f art? o n e c o m m e n ta to r asks.122The
bo urg eo is answ er w ould be no, because w orkers lack the trad ition a n d sen
sibility. But th e w orker can be b ro u g h t to full enjoym ent if he visits m use
ums. O n c e th e re , h e sh o uld avoid painters like R ubens a n d Raphael, whose
subjects are fa r rem ov ed from his own experience. H e m ust seek out
social, accusing, a n d rebellious art th at portrays his sorrows an d n e e d s,
such as the work o f R odin, Millet, M eunier, Kollwitz, a n d Zille.
This a ttitud e, th at th e w o rk er will feel m ost com fortable with and most
a p p re c ia te reflections o f his own everyday h ardships a n d struggles a kind
o f re in fo rc e m e n t o f misery r a th e r th a n th e real a n d im agined w orld o u t
side his ken (invariably called escapist), p erm eates the SD APs orientation
tow ard books, music, th e a te r, a n d art. T he em phasis on social c o n ten t in
such realistic ren d itio n s as those o f Kollwitz o r Zille closely resem bles the
tu r n tow ard socialist realism accom panying th e rise o f Stalin in the Soviet
U nion. H ow ever well in te n tio n ed , asking the w orker to sit dow n to such a
m e a g e r a n d p re sc rib e d cu ltu ral meal, seasoned with adm onitions in p a te r
nalistic tones, d id n o t succeed in en largin g th e realm o f socialist party
culture.
D u rin g th e late 1920s th e Kunststelle a d d e d the m an agem en t o f w orker
feasts a n d festivals to its activities (to b e discussed in th e next section). W ith
th e increasing politicizing o f these as well as m ost o th e r cultural activities
th a t p u t pro p ag and istic values in the fo re fro n t, B achs Kunststelle with its
elitist a rt c h a tte r becam e r e d u n d a n t.123 L a te n t conflicts betw een Bach
a n d youthful critics in the organization came to a he a d a n d led to the d e p a r
tu re o f the Socialist P e rfo rm a n c e G rou p , co m m itted to a g itp ro p a n d caba
r e t .124 I n 1931 Kunst und Volk ceased publication, allegedly fo r financial re a
sons. T he an n u a l r e p o r t o f the national Bildungszentrale fo r that year n o
lo n g e r listed the Kunststelle as a m e m b e r organization.
O n e is fo rc e d to agee with O tto L eichter that the K unststelle failed in
its mission no t, as h e insists, because it did n o t live u p to its potential, b u t
because it p u rsu e d false a n d hopeless goals. Most o f its artistic p ro g ra m was
based o n tu rn in g the w o rk er into a passive consum er. W hatever active artis
tic reso u rces existed in working-class com m unities w ere reje c te d o r ignored
as petty b o urg eo is a n d th e re fo re in b a d taste a n d subversive o f class in te r
ests. Ultimately, th e K unststelles m ain goal was to en n o b le th e a rt a p p re
ciated by th e w orkers by brin g in g th em in c on tact with elite c u ltu re .125 T he
p re su m p tio n u nd erly in g that e n n o b lem en t was th at a p articu lar socialist
o rie n ta tio n to elite art c o uld be devised, so that the w orker c o n su m e r would
be set on th e path o f socialist values in h is tran sform ation .
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T o C ulture T h r o u g h A ction:
S p orts an d F estiv a ls as S y m b ols o f P o w er
T h e Socialist p arty c u ltu re discussed so far was based o n th e intellectual
tra n sfo rm a tio n o f w orkers th ro u g h education. N ew spapers a n d jo u rn a ls,
lectures a n d libraries, th e a te r a n d c o n cert p erform an ces, vocal a n d instru
m ental practices, a n d artistic initiations, th o u g h aim ed at all th e workers,
re a c h e d only a varied m inority. Two closely related aspects o f th at party cul
tu re , o rganized sp orts a n d mass festivals, w ere able to a ttract a larg er n u m
b e r o f V iennese w orkers. T hey succeeded mainly because they o ffered an
easy fo rm o f association with mass experience, cate re d to psychological
n eeds o f w orkers fo r relaxation a n d expressions o f self-worth in c o m p e n
sation fo r the increasing te m p o a n d d epersonalization at the w orkplace, a nd
pro v id ed symbolic assurances o f collective strength.
A re c e n t assessm ent o f th e SDAP sp orts p ro g ra m e xaggerates in calling
it a fo rm o f cultural revolution . . . that c o n trib u te d m o re to creatin g a
socialist consciousness an d c o n d u c t th an the best-inten tio ned ex p erim ents
o f socialist e d u c a tio n . 127 Yet th e re is som e tru th to this assertion. H istori
ans o f w orker spo rts have fo r som e lime a ttrib u te d mass participation to the
sh o rte n e d workweek, allowing for m o re leisure lime, and to the intensity,
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was devised by the SDAP, were they grudgingly accepted as p a rt o f the cul
tural p ro gram . Even th en, sports w ere never co n sid ered on a p a r with o th e r
activities which com m itted party m em bers o r cadres with political m aturity
w ere ex p ected to engage in.
Politicizing w orker sports m ean t first o f all to differentiate th em from
th eir b o urg eo is c o u n te rp a rts, a n d m u ch ink was spilled on this p oint. B o u r
geois sports, it was charged, laid claim to a neutrality which deflected work
ers from th eir class interests, o rie n te d th em tow ard b ourgeois morals, and
tu rn e d them into glad iato rs.136 Bourgeois sports, m orevoer, were based 011
an individual sta r system a n d re c o rd p e rfo rm a n c e reflecting th e capitalist
o rd e r, w here the stro n g triu m p h e d over the w eak.137 T h e ir g reatest sin was
the conversion o f th e playing field in to an im m oral stage on which p e rfo rm
ers e n te rta in e d passive sp e c ta to rs.138
S u p p o rte rs o f w orker sports m aintain ed th at their fu n d am en tal differ
en ce fro m bo u rg eois sports, which ap p ealed to the lowest instincts and
in d e e d to M am m on, consisted o f th e ir progressive ed u catio n in socialism.
T h e body a n d its physical d evelopm ent, it was arg ued, was the n a tu ra l start
ing place fo r o th e r cultural a n d ed ucational advancem ent, a n d the unity o f
body a n d m ind was m o re p roductive th a n purely m ental activity. But such
physical d ev elo pm en t was n o t to be con sid ered an e n d in itself; it had to be
associated with e d u catio n aim ed at the socialist goal. Every sports o r gym
nastics leader was d ire c te d to becom e an ap o stle o f that id e a .139
Above all, th e arg u m e n t ran, w orker spo rts were a collective experience.
In distinction to art, which was the w ork o f e xp erts a n d d e m a n d e d specta
tors, spo rts could be p a rticip ated in by everyone a n d w ere the dom ain o f
am ateu rs. S p e c ta to r sports w ere at best a private p leasu re,140 bu t even they
could b e given a socialist c o n ten t. I f a w orker soccer team played an d w ork
ers w atched passively, A n to n Tesarek, h e a d o f the R ote Falken, claimed, an
educational process was taking place.141 C om petitio n whichtested the w ork
e rs stre n g th a n d increased th e ir p e rfo rm a n c e was co nsidered natural, so
long as it did n o t becom e excessive a n d h in d e r the com plete developm ent
o f th e individual.142 H ans Gastgeb, secretary o f ASKO, sum m arized the
SD A Ps expectations: a com bin ation o f mass sports with political enlight
en m e n t. This m ea n t sp orts n o t simply fo r distraction o r recreatio n b u t for
the c re a tio n o f a pro le ta ria t m entally a n d physically p re p a re d fo r struggles
to overco m e th e reactionry capitalist system .143
I f o n e co m pares the SD A Ps antibo u rgeois adm onitions with the p ro
po sed socialist distinctions o f w orker sports, the vagueness o f th e fo rm ula
tions becom es a p p a re n t. In p ractice these alleged differences m ust have
largely disap peared . H ow could co m petition in team sports really be kept
w ithin b o u n d s, a n d victors n o t b e acclaim ed?144 Even in individual sports
such as gymnastics a n d cycling, w ere th e re n o t excellent a n d in ferio r a th
letes, a n d c ou ld the losers o f a race be really satisfied with having do n e
th eir b e st ? O n e looks in vain fo r the insights o f A dlerian individual psy
chology allegedly a b so rb e d by p arty fu nction aries (but m o re o f th at later).
The distinction between good p roletarian participant an d d ecad en t b o u t-
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Mass calisthenics in the P rater during the International W orker Olympics, 1931
(VGA)
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108
I{t'/l Vienna
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110
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Mass festival in the new stadium, with participants shown toppling the symbolic gilt
idol o f capitalism, 1931 (VGA)
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CHAPTER 5
W orker Leisure:
Commercial and Mass Culture
In the SDAP's qu est fo r a total w ork er culture, party leaders used their
p o w er base in th e V ienna m unicipal adm inistration to tra n sfo rm the work
e rs public sph ere. As we have seen, r e fo rm efforts in housing, public health,
e d ucatio n, a n d welfare w ere aim ed at p ro d u c in g a new, orderly, a n d class
conscious w orking class.1 T hese efforts, a n d especially th e p a rty s large cul
tural p ro g ra m , w ent b ey on d a tte m p tin g to establish a m o re favorable
w orker en v iro nm ent; they w ere clearly aim ed at ch anging w ork er behavior
as well. In seeking to alter the public sp here, party re fo rm e rs e n c o u n te re d
a traditional political op p o sitio n fro m th e C hristian Social party, the C a th
olic ch u rch , a n d e conom ic p ressu re gro up s. In a tte m p tin g to d o m in ate the
w orkers private sp h e re as well, fa r m o re elusive obstacles a n d o p p o n e n ts
were arrayed against the party: w o rker subcultures; the d o m in a n t bourgeois
c u ltu re, a b o u t which the socialists position was am biguous; a n d an em erg
ing mass cu ltu re. Mass cu ltu re, particularly in its ability to com mercially p e r
m eate everyday life, was a pow erful adversary to th e p a rty s a tte m p t to shape
the w o rkers leisure tim e a n d private space. Its m ost u n iq u e quality, p e r
haps, was its ability to tra n sfe r th e mass p ro d u c tio n o f th e w orking w orld to
the a re n a o f leisure tim e.2 As we shall see, party leaders wavered between
rejectin g a n d w anting to e n n o b le what they co n sid ered vulgar influences in
e n te rta in m e n t a n d co n su m p tio n , a n d struggled against this newest m ani
festation o f pleasu re fo r its own sake.
In th e p e rio d u n d e r co n sid eratio n it w ould be a mistake to draw a sharp
distinction betw een com m ercial a n d mass culture. T h e la tter may be seen to
em erg e in A ustria a n d elsew here in E u ro p e a fte r th e tu rn o f the centu ry and
to begin to replace o ld e r form s o f com m ercial culture. We c a n n o t lose sight
o f the fact that mass c u ltu re is com m ercial. But it involves co m m erce o f a
m o re advanced type, ge a re d to the p ro d u c tio n a n d co n su m p tio n o f large
quantities, reach in g various ta rg e te d m arkets, b ut aim ing at a c o m p re h e n
sive one. It clearly parallels the most advanced techniques and aims o f the
most advanced industry at the tim e.'
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C om m ercia l C ulture
O n e o f th e m ost im p o rta n t com m ercial institutions in the life o f the V ien
nese w orking class was th e Gasthaus o r Wirtshaus. T hese establishm ents p ro
vided meals a n d snacks, alcoholic beverages, lodgings, a n d m eeting rooms.
O n S atu rd ay n ig ht a n d Sundays p o p u la r singers e n te rta in e d a n d Schram
meln q u a rte ts (two violins, a bass, a n d a clarinet) played d ance music. In the
last q u a r te r o f th e n in e te e n th century, w hen h a lf the Viennese work force
was still artisanal a n d h a lf the w orkers did n o t live in their own hom es, Gast
huser w ere a virtual h o m e away fro m h o m e a n d th e m ost im p o rta n t c e n te r
o f w ork er sociability.10 As c o m m u n ication cen ters they also h a d a sexual,
political, a n d a ccu ltu ratin g function: o n w eekends male jo u rn e y m e n an d
fem ale w orkers were able to enjoy th e erotic am bience; jo u rn e y m e n estab
lished bases th e re fo r th eir p articu lar tra d e (Gesellenherbergen), tu rn in g them
into hirin g halls, a locale fo r the settlem ent o f conflicts at the workplace,
a n d strike c enters; a n d the m ajority o f jo u rn e y m e n , who w ere o f Bohemian
a n d M oravian origin a n d spoke Czech at th e w orkplace, a tte m p te d assimi
lation by speaking G erm an.
By 1919 the Gasthaus h a d lost m any o f its prein d ustrial social a n d polit
ical functions. T h e e n o rm o u s increase in m arriages a n d m o re stable w orker
families, a n d the m ain ten an ce o f w artim e re n t co ntro l by the municipal
adm inistratio n , m ade th e su rro g a te dom icile fun ctio n o f the Gasthaus obso
lete. Similarly, th e full-scale d ev elo p m en t o f tra d e unions a n d the Socialist
party largely replaced the Gasthaus as a prim itive c e n te r o f w orker econom ic
a n d political activities. Yet Gasthuser c o n tin u e d to play a significant role in
the working-class com m unities o f Vienna. T h eir proxim ity to the growing
n u m b e r o f industi ial e n te rp i ises m ade Ihem the lmu hlim e c e n te r o f male
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120
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300 artists w ere still playing to full houses. But c o m petition fro m mass cul
tu re h a d taken its toll: som e o f the m ost fam ous Varits had b e e n converted
into movie houses in the previous five years (Colosseum, Apollo, J o h a n n
Strauss, N eues O rp h e u m , L u stspieltheater).32 T he Varit as truly p o p u la r
e n te rta in m e n t survived best in the small w ooden stru c tu re s dispersed
th r o u g h o u t th e working-class districts o f Favoriten, O ttakring, an d Brigit
te n a u .33 W ith 200 to 300 seats, a n d prices in the 50 G ro sch en to on e Schil
ling range, they offered alte rn a tin g p rog ram s o f theater, revues, peasant
com edies, a n d Variet to a loyal public. T o these m ust be a d d e d n u m ero u s
Gasthuser which prov ided Variet o n a m uch re d u c e d scale as an e n te rta in
m en t su p p lem en tary to the foo d a n d d rin k consu m ed by th eir custom ers.
T h e smallest establishm ents with less th a n fifty seats, offering Variet o f
sorts, w ere e x clu ded fro m the m unicipal luxury tax a n d license re q u ire m e n t
a n d c ou ld offer m o re o r less a m a te u r e n te rta in m e n t at very low prices.34
Like th e circus, Variet was a declining fo rm o f com m ercial e n te rta in m e n t
th at strug g led to m aintain its past popularity. Given the diversity o f estab
lishm ents, the size o f its public is difficult to estimate. It is d o u b tfu l w h eth er
w eekend audiences ever exceeded 2 0 - 3 0 ,0 0 0 . In all likelihood workingclass co nsu m ers fo rm e d less th a n h a lf th a t num b er.
Tw o o th e r com m ercial e n te rta in m e n ts attractive to w orkers deserve
m ention: d a n c in g a n d balls. In the p ostw ar p e rio d the sp o n ta n e o u s d ancing
at Gasthuser a n d Heurigen was increasingly su p e rse d e d am o n g the y oung
by d a n c in g at com m ercial d a ncin g schools. T hese establishm ents provided
n o t only in stru ctio n b u t also a place fo r the initiated to take th eir pleasure
by exercising th eir skill.35 A Sunday a fte rn o o n enjoyed by you ng w orkers in
this am bience o f p r o p e r dress a n d c o m p o rtm e n t b ro u g h t them into contact
with an unfam iliar b u t attractive world. N o d o u b t dancin g schools also
played an im p o rta n t role in prov id ing a setting fo r the cou rtsh ip o f young
w orkers. T he n a tu re o f this individualistic e n te rta in m e n t particularly dis
tu rb e d Socialist party ed u c a to rs a n d y ou th leaders. T h eir d en u n c ia tio n o f
couple d a n cin g as senseless plesasure-seeking a n d sensuality (a sign o f false
consciousness), a n d th eir c h am p ion ing o f folk dan cin g in which the circle
symbolized equality, purity o f spirit, a n d the collectivity will be discussed
later. R elated occasions fo r yo ung w orkers to enjoy couple d an cin g w ere the
public balls o rg an ized usually annually a ro u n d nationally observed holi
days by various trades (laundresses, tram waym en, firem en, seamstresses,
etc.). At these festivities d a n cing to live bands, food, alcohol, prizes, a n d spe
cial events w ere a g reat a ttractio n, draw ing large n u m b e rs o f participants.
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P o p u la r C ulture C o n d e m n e d
T h e Socialist party viewed p o p u la r culture, the wide array o f com m ercial
a n d noncom m ercial leisure-tim e activities in which th e w orkers partici
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125
tightly fitting dresses, stiff collars, a n d ties. Socialist youth choose the folk
d an ce because it c o rre sp o n d s to th eir ideology o f freedom . But this claim is
d e n ie d by a n o th e r discussant w ho insists that folk dancing has failed to hold
the interest o f yo u th even in the SAJ, a n d th at com m ercial dan cing schools
are h e re to stay.51 I f th e party wants to attract pro le ta ria n youth, it m ust
c o m p ete with social d a ncing en te rta in m e n ts o f its own a n d use them as a
m eans o f agitation. Only th e n will it be able to ed u c a te those who come. A
su b seq u en t critic finds such views a n tiq u a te d a n d unrealistic.52 People are
a ttra c te d to th e SAJ because it provides conviviality: the opposite sex,
sports, a n d trips. F o r th e overw helm ing majority, conviction, c u rre n t poli
tics, a n d th e desire fo r know ledge a n d e d u catio n are th e last reasons for
jo in ing .
T h e final w ord is spoken by a party eld er who has little patience with the
am biguities a n d confusions o f the previous you ng discussants.53 H e rejects
the suggestion that d an cin g can be u sed as a m eans o f a ttracting the u n o r
ganized p ro le ta ria n youth, because social dancing simply can n ot be sepa
ra te d fro m its b ou rg eo is milieu: im m oral smoking, drinking, clothing
m ania, flirtatiousness, a n d m ock gallantry. The values o f abstinence from
sm oking a n d d rin k in g c en tral to the creation o f n e u e M ensch en can
n o t be c o m p ro m ise d even in building a mass organization. Besides, h e adds,
the SAJ could n ev er c o m p ete in a ttractin g seventeen-year-olds who have so
far kept th e ir distance fro m the party, by offering dancing cleansed o f its
b ou rgeo is detritus. Any atte m p t in that direction would n o t only fail b u t also
u n d e rm in e the existing cohesiveness o f SAJ y o uth a n d functionaries.
It com es as n o surprise th at the SDAP ex p ected a g reat deal from the
V iennese w orking masses in whose nam e it spoke. T h e som ew hat ragged dis
cussion above illustrates how the message o f self-denial h a d reach ed certain
echelons o f the SAJ. A t th e same tim e it suggests th a t th e n o rm al desire for
a leisure tim e o f jo y a n d pleasure am o n g the y o u n g c o n tin u e d to be associ
a te d with aspects o f th e p o p u la r culture. T he c on trad ictio n betw een an o u t
right co n d e m n a tio n o f com m ercial leisure, a n d y earning fo r the same on the
p a rt o f th e discussants, could n o t be resolved by the party leadership. It
seems that th e re was a g o o d deal o f wishful thinking in the belief th at the
socialist y o uth w ere such single-m inded a n d fu tu re -o rie n te d zealots as to
deny themselves pleasures outside those de e m e d to serve th e collective
g o o d .54 H e re , as in o th e r aspects o f th e socialists cultural p ro gram , th ere is
considerable ig n o ran ce o f b o th th e existing sociocultural c o n tex t in which
w orkers w ere socialized a n d o f the psychological m echanism s constituting
a n d shaping behavior. D espite the SD A Ps alleged a d h e re n c e to A lfred
A d le rs ego psychology, th e re is little evidence o f it, save a som ew hat vulgar
environm entalist behaviorism , in the p a rty s a p p ro a c h to the workers
them selves.55
T h e a p p lic a tio n o f p a rty d o g m a o n p o p u la r c u ltu re to y o u n g w o rk e rs
s t r u g g lin g w ith p r o b l e m s o f id e n tity a n d c a u g h t u p in t h e c o n f u s i n g d e s ire s
f o r c o n f o r m i t y a n d s e l f h o o d is b u t a n o t h e r e x a m p l e o f a p e r s i s t e n t s o c i a l i s t
in se n sitiv ity to t h e w o r k e r s as th e y really w e re . In a t t e m p t i n g to c o m b a t th e
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127
1926
1928
1933
Yearly
Weekly
Daily
1 2 .4 2 m illio n
2 9 .3 9 m illio n
2 8 .0 3 m illio n
2 3 8 ,8 4 6
5 6 5 ,2 3 4
5 3 9 ,1 6 3
3 4 ,1 2 0
8 0 ,7 4 7
7 7 ,0 2 3
By 1926, which was an off year because o f the reorganization o f the film
industry, th e re w ere already 170 movie th eaters in V ienna, 160 o f which had
daily showings. By 1933 the n u m b e r o f th eaters h a d grow n to 179, with 99
p e rc e n t show ing so u n d films, a n d 7 with over 1,000 seats. As the above fig
u res re p re se n t averages o n a weekly a n d daily basis, certain co rrectio ns must
be m ade so as to arrive at a tte n d a n c e o n days w hen V iennese w orkers were
at leisure. A cco rdin g to th e a te r ow ners an d m anagers, the m ost p o p u la r
days w ere S aturday a n d Sunday, followed by Friday a n d M onday, with a
sh a rp d r o p in ticket sales in midweek. A ttend ance was re d u c e d in general
d u rin g th e five w arm -w eather m o n th s.65 I f we adjust the above figures in the
light o f this in fo rm atio n, th e n u m b e r o f w eekend admissions would m ore
than do u b le the daily averages, yielding a total o f 35 0 ,0 00 filmgoers.
By w hatever yardstick we use 5 6 0,00 0 weekly filmgoers o r 3 50,000 on
w eekends th e film h a d b ecom e th e m ost p o p u la r e n te rta in m e n t am o n g
th e V iennese by th e late 1920s. H ow m any o f these w ere workers? U n fo r
tunately, the official film statistics lack the necessary refinem ent, and an
answ er can be given only by ap proxim ation. Accordingly, if we use SDAP
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escape fro m th e e v er-p resen t reality o f th eir ong o in g struggle in ilio work
place a n d dom estic sp here, was the ability o f film to in c o rp o ra te and even
surpass the m o re traditional a n d still c o nsu m ed form s o f comm ercial <111
ture: m o re spectacular rep re se n ta tio n s o f exotic places and people, sliai pei
images o f daily life, a g re a te r immediacy o f feeling, and a b ro a d e r scope Idi
em pathy than the circus o r Variet could provide. W hat may have sed uced "
w orkers to pay f re q u e n t visits to the cinem a is a new kind o f seeing, and laici
seeing a n d hearing, which allowed them to perceive the subjects o f onlei
ta in m en t in a new and dynam ic way. Even bad a n d trivial films contained
th a t novel charm , which may well acco u n t fo r the success o f some o f the
m ost soporific examples.
But even the very best exam ples o f cinem atic art, with the greatest co m
plexity a n d suggestiveness, such as D erblaueEngel, could be enjoyed in some
o f its dim ensions by w orkers with u nsophisticated taste. T h e same was not
tr u e fo r exam ples o f elite art, such as T hom as M a n n s novel The Mage
M ountain, whose prolix style a n d com plicated p lo tting preclu d ed the pos
sibility o f being enjoyed on a sim pler level. T he visual dynamics o f lilm.
allowing fo r grow th o f p e rc e p tio n with experience, lent a democratic aspect
to cinem a which very few co n te m p o ra rie s were able to a pp reciate.7'
Was the quality o f films viewed by Viennese w orkers really as bad as
socialist critics m ad e it o u t to be? Was it really an ocean o f kitsch in which
an occasional p earl cam e to light? It is well to re m e m b e r that th e re is a wide
sp e c tru m o f quality in all a rt a n d e n te rta in m e n t forms. It is rem arkable that
hardly any o f the c in e m a s m ost o u tsp o k e n critics ever asked how many o f
th e plays b ro k e re d by the Kunststelle o r th e n u m e ro u s books serialized in
socialist publications were kitsch as they d efined it.
A b o u t 400 to 500 films were exhibited in Viennese cinemas each year.7:1
O f these, n o d o u b t, th e m ajority w ere o f limited artistic o r intellectual
m e rit light com edies, historical pageants, musicals, adventures in bizarre
settings, p edestrian tragedies, a n d tales o f m iraculous salvation o r success
m ost o fte n routinely b u t som etim es well crafted, fe a tu rin g well-known stars
a n d negligible screenplays which freq u ently c o n tain ed imaginative scenes.
S om e 20 p e rc e n t p e rh a p s w ere dow nright kitsch ren ditio n s o f the "fallen
w o m e n , the c h arm in g crow n p rin c e , happ y p easan ts, flowers o f the
h a re m , a n d ju n g le a d v e n tu re s generally o f low technical qualiiy and
g e a re d to diverting the m ost passive viewers.
T h e weekly diet o f the film public, however, was e n rich ed by the best
films on the in te rn a tio n a l m arket at the time, a n d they w ere frequently being
show n at ten o r m o re th e a te rs at once. A very incom plete sam pling o f these
w ould include Anna Christie, Der letzte M ann, Sacco und Vanzetti, Metropolis,
Berlin Alexanderplatz, Em il m id die Detektive, (Wand Hotel, The Hunchback oj
Notre Dame, M arius, Resurrection, A n American Tragedy, Charley's Aunt, Cas,
Der H auptmann von Kopenick, Huckleberry Finn, Kameradschaft, A nous la lib
ert, a n d Twenty-Four Hours. T h e mix in quality o f films shown in Vienna
a p p e a rs to have been a b o u t the same as in Berlin, Paris, L on d on , an d New
York.74 A look at I he films with the- leading box oil ice sale's for I OiO/l (.)31
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rep lace th e a te r a n d o p e ra was answ ered with the derisive rem ark that the
ability o f d irecto rs to exercise artistic ju d g m e n t was questionable. N o r was
Bela Balazs sp a re d w hen he d e m a n d e d th at critics focus th eir a tten tio n o n
th e visual. Until films b ecom e tru e art, plots will con tin u e to be the critics
m ain interest, he was told.
A lthough th e c o n fe re n c e exposed the fu n dam ental difference betw een
cinem a p ractitio n ers a n d socialist critics a n d functionaries, it did m ark a
w atersh ed in the SD A Ps actual intervention. It had b een suggested earlier
th a t th e party create a viewers organization, p ro d u c e its own films, an d
establish a leasing com pany, all o f which could assure th at films would be
m ade a n d shown that c o rre sp o n d e d to the p a rty s aims.80 Plans w ere set in
m otion to realize the last o f these proposals. But the c o n feren ce did not
greatly alte r the te n o r o r im prove the quality o f film reviews.
A lth o ug h Die Arbeiter-Zeitung an d Bildungsarbeit b egan to carry reg u lar
reviews in 1924, a n d Das kleine Blatt and o th e r socialist publications fol
lowed suit late in the decade, films co n tin u e d to be ju d g e d o n th eir literary
m erits above all. O n e leafs in vain th ro u g h the weekly colum n o f Fritz
R osenfeld, th e socialists best reviewer, in search o f a deviation from p o tte d
reviews that use pejoratives to ju d g e films o n the basis o f their c o n ten t, with
g ru d g in g asides a b o u t g o o d acting o r w ell-rendered scenery.81 T he cinem a
as a visual ex p erien ce, as a distinct a rt fo rm p re se n t even in average films, is
missing o r at best m e a su re d against the deficiencies o f the plot. Only in the
Soviet film, b ro u g h t to V ienna at the behest o f d istribu tors an d th e a te r ow n
ers, does R osenfeld co m bin e aesthetics a n d c o n te n t in lauditory reviews.82
Even th e best films o f the p e rio d are c o m p a re d unfavorably to the lit
e r a tu r e on which they are based. Der blaue Engel is a case in point. J o h a n n
H irsch, in a long review fo r Das kleine Blatt, th e widest-read socialist daily,
c o n sid e re d the film a d e g ra d e d version o f H ein rich M a n n s novel.83 T he
right-w ing views o f A lfred H u g e n b e rg (ow ner o f UFA) h a d prevailed,
H irsch charged, in re d u c in g the novels critical sharpness. A lthough he
praises th e cinem atic force o f th e film, he entirely misses the sadom asoch
istic d estru c tio n o f the central ch aracter, re p re se n tin g a way o f life; th e pres
ence o f o bservant b u t passive bystanders d u rin g acts o f brutality; an d the
wolf-pack c h a ra c te r o f th e y o u n g students-all o f which reflected reality in
W eim ar G erm any far b e tte r th a n th e novels attack o n auth oritarian ism in
im perial G erm any. H irsch simply fails to see, o r discounts, these new d im en
sions. H e c oncludes th a t o n e will be able to see this film with pleasure, a d d
ing: B ut o n e will benefit intellectually only afterw ard w hen on e reads Pro
fessor Unrat, th e novel o f H ein rich M ann . . . a n d learns fro m it w hat aspects
o f G erm an lite ra tu re may be in clu d ed in the G erm an film a n d what the mas
ters o f the film industry ex clu d e.
W hile socialist film reviewing a p p e a re d to be stuck in a predictable
groove, a lively exposition o f fu n d am en tal problem s c o n c e rn in g the work
ing classs a p p ro a c h to cinem a a p p e a re d in leading publications Der
Jugendliche Arbeiter, Bildungsarbeit, Der Karnpf a n d was aired on the radio.
A d om inan t th em e o f this discussion, re p e a te d year a lte r year by the SD A Ps
film ex p e rt R osenberg, was ilie imm ense pow er <>l film as e n te rta in m e n t in
com p ariso n to books, theaters, and o th e r cultural forms. lint films re p r e
sen ted the values o f th e bourgeoisie a n d used subtle m eans to make w ork
ing-class audiences believe in the imm utability o f the p re se n t social o rd e r.
T h e first step in tu rn in g the film into a w eapon o f the w orking class was to
demystify it by exposing its class bias.84
T h e q u estio n was how? If the w orkers escaped from the hardships o f
daily life in to th e c in em as make-believe w orld o f class deception , what steps
sh o uld th e SDAP take to alter th a t to b rin g its own cultural politics to
bear?85 Logically, the party ou g h t to p ro d u c e films o f its own b u t, Rosenfeld
insisted, th at was impossible because o f the cost. H e arg u ed that co n tro l o f
movie th e a te rs a n d, th ro u g h them , o f distrib u tio n was feasible. Such social
ist cinem as could draw u p o n G erm an socialist films, Russian films, an d artis
tic films o n the in tern ation al m arket to provide a rich diet fo r proletarian
audiences. T h e profits fro m such an e n te rp rise could be used in c o n ju n c
tion with similar socialist cinem a chains in o th e r cou n tries to create an in te r
n ational socialist p ro d u c tio n com pany w hose films would have a so u n d and
secu re m arket in th e cinem a chains.86
R osen feld s p ro p osal was imaginative a n d far-reaching; fu rth e rm o re , as
we shall see, som e practical steps in th a t directio n h a d already be e n taken
by the party. Rosenfeld failed to m en tio n that the difficulties in establishing
a socialist film policy stem m ed fro m differences betw een a small g ro u p o f
yo un g er, m o re politically d a rin g fun ctio n aries o f th e Bildungszentrale,
struggling to c reate the SD A Ps cultural p ro gram , a n d the o lder, m o re cau
tious party leaders who held the pu rse strings. T h e conflict was fought out
b e h in d th e scenes; w hen it surfaced fro m time to time, it revealed how
divided the perc e p tio n s re g a rd in g the po tential o f film really were.
An article by a youn g B ildungszentrale functionary, fo r example,
accused th e party o f no t having re sp o n d e d sufficiently to the p o tential o f
film.87 F o r th e y o u n g e r g en e ra tio n th e tu rb u le n c e o f the war a n d postw ar
w orld was c a p tu re d by the film an d n eglected by the theater. T h e film was
n o t only developing in to a worthy art fo rm b u t also becom ing the perfect
reflection o f th e ra p id te m p o o f co n te m p o ra ry life, a n d th us o f the ex p e ri
ence o f th e masses. Party leaders, h e charg ed , who w ere socialized thirty
years ago, clung to th e a te r a n d c o n c e rt hall as th e pillars o f c u ltu re an d
looked dow n o n film, by which they felt th re a te n e d , as a d eg ra d in g com
mercial p ro d u c t. Until now, he con cluded, the p a rty s a p p ro a c h to the film
h a d b e e n half-hearted; th e tim e had com e to u n d e rta k e th e struggle fo r an
A ustrian socialist film.88
It is difficult to explain th e c o n tin u e d d e m a n d until 1933 by socialist film
critics a n d m em bers o f the B ildungszentrale that the SDAP intervene in the
d istrib u tio n a n d exhibition o f films, w hen th e party h a d initiated ju s t such
a pro g ram . O n e can only c o nclud e th at these persisten t critical voices w ere
d ire c te d at the p a rty s efforts themselves. H ow far had the party gone in
seeking to influence com m ercial film viewed by working-class audiences,
a n d w hat o p p o rtu n itie s h a d it missed?
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nese cinemas with films.97 Did the quality o f films d istrib u ted a n d shown by
Kiba reflect the long-expressed aim o f the SDAP fo r a socially conscious film
as an a n tid o te to the typical illusions o f the capitalist d re a m factory? They
did not. F ro m the b e g in nin g E d m u n d H a m b e r retain ed co n tro l over film
program m ing, an d his only c o n c e rn was to show a profit. From the late
1920s on, m em bers o f the B ildungszentrale a n d socialist film critics com
plained a b o u t Kibas unsocialist a n d antisocialist program m ing. Rosenfeld
particularly lam basted the Kiba m an ag em en t fo r exhibiting films in its th e
aters far w orse m o re reactionary, m o re trivial, a n d less artistic th an
could be fo u n d in com m ercial th e a te rs.98 E d m u n d H a m b e r d e fe n d e d his
p rog ram m ing policy b e fo re the SDAP executive: the V iennese public was
n o t interested in political films; Russian films played to smaller audiences;
the middle-class film audience in th eaters supplied by Kiba h a d to be taken
into consideration as well as the w orkers. A pparently, the party executive
agreed with H a m b e r.99Julius D eutsch was sent to make it clear to Rosenfeld
how m uch m oney was at stake; film criticism o f Kiba p rog ram s in Die Arbeiter-Zeitung was p u t into o th e r h a n d s .100
Kiba was a com m erical success to the end; as a socialist cultural e x peri
m ent it was a failure fro m the beginning. In 1925 th e Bildungszentrale had
p etitio n ed the party executive to create a V olks-Kino-Verband, an associa
tion o f all the socialist-owned a n d c o n tro lled theaters, with an eye tow ard
im proved block program m in g , only to b e told th at the u n d e rta k in g was too
risky. R osenfelds suggestion th at an association o f working-class film view
ers be fo rm e d also failed to get serious consideration. A nd the o p p o rtu n ity
to buy o r lease additional theaters, m ade possible by the cinem a law o f 1926,
was allowed to pass, as was the possibility o f co o p e ra tin g in film p ro d u c tio n
with the G erm an P ro m e th e u s co m p any .101 In stead the SDAP executive,
socialist municipal officials, trad e unions, a n d the A rb eiterb an k gam bled on
the creation o f Kiba. H aving tu rn e d dow n all o th e r suggestions fo r im ple
m en tin g a socialist film policy as to o risky, they took the biggest risk o f all
by p u ttin g themselves into the han d s o f the H a m b e r b ro th e rs, two skillful
practition ers in a new, volatile, a n d ruthless ind u stry .102
T h e failure o f Kiba to b rin g a socialist influence to b e a r o n the mass
m edia revealed a fu n d a m e n ta l split betw een functionaries o f th e Bildung
szentrale, who w anted th e distrib ution a n d exhibition o f films to reflect the
p a rty s d e m a n d fo r socially relevant a n d artistically well-made films, and
party bosses in the executive a n d m unicipal g ov ern m en t, who w ere c o n ten t
with com m ercial success. T he socialist notables were tra p p e d by the n arrow
ness o f th e ir cultural perspective. O n the o n e hand, they w anted to raise
films to the level o f elite culture; o n the o th e r, they w anted it to be func
tional to ed u cate the w orkers a n d aid th em in th e ong o in g class strug
gle.103 Film m ade th em u n co m fo rtab le. Its novelty and experim ental
aspects, its lack o f a long a n d venerable tradition, m ade it as unreliable as
m o d e rn art in the eyes o f party doyens, w ho clung to the established elite
cultu re they had b een taught to respect.
T h e s o c i a l i s t s w e r e n o t a l o n e in f a i l i n g l o u n d e r s t a n d t h e u n i q u e q u a l i
135
R adio: P u lp it o f th e P eo p le?
F ro m its origins as a mass m ed iu m in A ustria, radio was a public en te rp rise
p roviding e n te rta in m e n t a n d in fo rm ation but w ithout the com m ercial
im perative o f o th e r mass cultural fo rm s.106 Unlike the privately ow ned film
industry, whose m arket was intern ation al, radio was largely aim ed at the
national public. T hat lim ited focus, to g e th e r with ra d io s u n iq u e ability to
p e n e tra te the private sp h e re o f a grow ing listening public, m ade it part o f
th e political b a ttle g ro u n d betw een th e socialists an d th eir Christian Social
a n d o th e r political o p p o n e n ts. As we shall see, the socialists single-m inded
c o n c e rn with the c o n te n t o f radio p ro g ra m m in g as part o f the K ulturkam pf led them to overlook the special qualities o f radio to e n tertain
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Listening to the radio with a crystal set also became a communal experience.
(Bilderarchiv, Die W iener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek)
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139
140
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141
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example) was th e re such a relationship betw een the passive a n d the active
p articipant.
It raises the q uestion o f why w orkers ceased to be satisfied with partici
p ation alone. W hat was th e re in soccer as a mass sp o rt th at a ttra c te d tens o f
tho u san ds as spectators? Ju liu s D eutsch, an im p o rta n t sports functionary o f
the SDAP, allegedly h a d the answ er.141 T h e w o rker-spectator was a victim
o f his own desire fo r ch eap distractions, which in th e guise o f political n e u
trality estra n g e d him fro m his own class. Capitalist sports, D eutsch intoned,
seduced the sp e c ta to r with the achievem ents o f stars; socialist sp o rt aim ed
collectively to develop th e physical c o m p eten ce a n d grace o f the w o rkers
body. In o th e r words, the low motives o f mass sp o rt w ere po sed against the
lofty goals o f the p a rty s spo rts activities; the primitive enjoym ents o f sports
fans against the hig her strivings o f the collectivity. Aside from the fact that
D eutsch neglected th e overdisciplined a n d almost militaristic quality o f
ASKO org an ization a n d activities, he simply sidestepped th e question o f
mass sp o rt popularity.
H e n d rik d e M a n s earlier critical observations a b o u t the needs and
motives o f w orker spectators cam e m uch closer to the mark. T he workers,
h e observed, a tta in e d a heig h te n e d sense o f self fro m the alternative tension
c re a te d by th e sports c o n te st.142 Present-day sports historians have sug
gested th at the accum u lated em otions a n d aggressions o f the m o n o to n o u s
w orkday c o uld n o lo n g er be co m p e n sa te d f o r by sp o rt p articipation, which
n o lo n g er sufficed to am eliorate feelings o f social inferiority an d give
expression to th e n a tu ra l desire fo r personal recognition. 14'!
B eginning with the late 1920s, b o th socialist a n d mass sp e c ta to r sports
w ere given enthusiastic coverage in the p o p u la r party publications DerKuckuck a n d Das kleine Blatt. This is hardly surprisin g w hen we consider that,
fro m the early 1920s on, V ienna was a soccer city. As early as 1926, in te r
national games with 40,0 0 0 spectators w ere high points o f th e season. The
stadium at the H o h e W arte in the n o r th e r n outskirts o f the city, with an
overflow capacity o f u p to 70,000 spectators, was on e o f the largest in
E u r o p e .144 In 1931 the m unicipality built a m o d e rn stadium in the P rater
with a capacity o f 60,000. A lthough the socialist city fathers h a d cre a te d this
facility to h o u se p arty sp o rt activities as well as socialist mass festivals, soccer
m atches w ere a co n sta n t attraction. In the early 1930s, with two large sta
dium s a n d n u m e ro u s district soccer fields, w eekend crowds o f 150,000 to
2 0 0 ,0 0 0 w ere u n e x c e p tio n a l.145 T o these m ust be a d d e d the tens o f
th o u sand s o f rad io fans who tu n e d in to occasional direct broadcasts o f
im p o rta n t games.
In view o f such large a tte n d a n c e figures, the draw ing p o w er o f mass
s p e c ta to r spo rts can hardly be disputed. It rem ains to place these in p e r
spective in relation to noncom m ercial a n d com m erical sports a n d the great
variety o f o th e r leisure-tim e activities in which Viennese w orkers partici
p a te d so enthusiastically a n d in such large num bers.
T h e S D A P s d e s i r e t o p e r m e a t e t h e w o r k e r s ' p r i v a t e s p h e r e a n d t o till t h a t
willi a lig h l n e t w o r k o f p a r t y - o r g a n i z e d a n d p a r t y - d i r e c t e d < iillu i.il a c tiv itie s
143
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sam e time. Friends, new spapers, o r previous films with the same actors
could d e te rm in e th e choice. O r no a p p a re n t choice n eed ed to be made
beyo n d im m ediate im pulse o r convenience. R adio could be kept playing as
a b a c k g ro u n d d istractio n to which the listener tu n e d in and out, o r specific
p ro g ra m s could be selected. In e ith e r case, the m en u o f choices was p re
d e te rm in e d a n d th e same fo r everyone, co n tro l was private an d com plete,
a n d the social c o n tex t was the domicile. Such flexibility o f choice was a lib
e ra tin g experience, in co n tra st to the discipline a n d restrictions o f the work
place. M oreover, th e p rice differentials in movie theaters w ere m uch smaller
th a n in o p e ra o r the a te r, a n d radio fees w ere the same fo r everyone. Enjoy
m e n t o f rad io a n d film re q u ire d little effort a n d at th e same time gave a sense
o f belonging, o f being e qu al to others.
W ere the audiences o f th e mass m edia really as passive as the socialists
believed ready victims o f bad taste a n d hostile ideologies? Until recently
o n e simply assum ed th a t audience rece p tio n a n d p e rc e p tio n w ere the same.
This w ent fo r mass e n te rta in m e n t as well as mass con su m p tio n products.
But the process o f p e rc e p tio n ap pears to be very com plex, involving the p e r
sonality o f viewers as d ifferen tiated in various ways: by age, gen der, form al
a n d in fo rm al e d u catio n , political experience, a n d so on. Studies o f A m eri
can film audiences in th e early silent era have revealed that th ere was c o n
siderable verbal a n d physical audience reaction to what a p p e a re d on the
s c re e n .149 In a similar way, fascination with a p a rtic u la r radio p ro g ram , fol
lowing it weekly a n d with co m m entary a n d discussion o r later reference
a m o n g peers, as well as leaving the radio on a n d using it as a kind o f envi
ro n m e n ta l b a ck grou n d, are exam ples o f in teractio n with the mass media.
O n e should n o t castigate the socialists fo r b eing no m o re sophisticated
a b o u t mass c u ltu re th a n anyone else at the time, o r fo r failing to recognize
that the relationship b etw een p ro d u c tio n , con sum p tio n , and use was n o t a
linear process o p e n to simplistic co rrection s based o n party dogm a. But
th e ir lack o f psychological insight into the life-styles a n d daily pressures on
th e w orking class fo r w hom they claimed to speak, a n d th eir unsubtlety in
a rg u in g against the o t h e r cultures an d fo r th eir own, suggest why their
p ro le ta ria n c o u n te rc u ltu re failed to a ttra c t a m ajority o f workers. U n fo r
tunately fo r the SDAP, the purveyors o f mass cu ltu re w ere far m ore adept
in a ttra c tin g th eir audience.
CHAPTER 6
147
T h e N e w W om a n an d th e T r ip le B u r d e n
W hat actual place was acc o rd e d to w om en in th e cultural ex p erim en t to
tra n sfo rm working-class life? Socialist party publications were silent o r at
best o b tu se o n the subject o f w om en p e r se o r o f female consciousness and
identity. This subject was generally su bsum ed u n d e r various h ig h er social
goals: th e creatio n o f ordentliche7 (orderly, d ecen t, respectable, a n d disci
plined) w orker families; the n e e d fo r rational a n d co n tro lled re p ro d u c tio n ,
leading to a healthy new g e neratio n ; a n d the desire to make a varied party
life c entral to th e lives o f workers. Since fem ale w orkers a c c o u n te d for
alm ost 40 p e rc e n t o f th e total labo r force, a n d since 80 p e rc e n t o f m arried
w om en w ere in som e way em ployed,8 the party lite ra tu re devoted consid
erab le space to th e plight o f w om en com pelled to b e a r the triple b u rd e n o f
work, h ousehold, a n d child rearin g .9 In a tte m p tin g to rescue working-class
w om en fro m this plight, th e socialist re fo rm e rs hypostatized th e new
w o m an as the female pa rt o f the ne u e M ensch en they were in the p r o
cess o f creating. As we shall see, h e re as elsew here in the socialists' (rails-
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mality, som eth in g exp ected o f them , a n d that only 21.7 p e rc e n t o f the
w om en trad e unionists in L e ic h te rs study ever a tte n d e d u n io n meetings
a n d only 3 p ercen t re a d the un io n p a p e rs.62
Why, then, did wom en w ork in factories? L eichter concludes that it was
o u t o f p u re econom ic necessity.63 W ould they have c o n tin u e d to work, if
th eir h u sband s o r fath ers h a d be e n able to su p p o rt them ? Eighty-five p e r
cent answ ered no .64 T h e im peratives fo r such a choice are n o t difficult to
u n d e rsta n d . A re tre a t from work into the h o usehold was th e only way o pen
fo r w om en w orkers to re d u c e the triple b u rd e n . N eith er the city fathers n o r
the socialist re fo rm e rs had be e n able to create sufficient a n d a p p ro p ria te
social services to re d u c e th eir la b o r in the dom estic sp here, n o r h a d they
seriously b ro a c h e d th e traditional sexual division o f la b o r there, which
w ould have m ade a g re a te r d ifference th a n all th e labor-saving devices and
rationalization schemes. Yet th e re are indications that w om en derived cer
tain psychological benefits fro m w ork outside the ho m e in the form o f
female solidarity.65
I f we look at th e b a re facts o ffered in L eic h te rs study, we n e e d hardly
w o n d e r th a t w orking w om en w ere light years rem oved from th at attractive
image o f the new w om an p ro je c te d in the socialist literature. How could a
w orking w om an tra n sfo rm h e r body in to the figure o f a garon, w hen h e r
diet c onsisted largely o f b read , starchy grains, a n d fat; w hen coffee was h e r
mainstay m o rning, n oo n , a n d night; an d sugar was th e cheapest source o f
calories?66 W hat tim e o r energy was th e re in the w orking w o m an s day for
sports, m eetings, cinem a, concerts, theaters, o r even reading?67 Given the
stress o f m eetin g h e r daily responsibilities, what o p p o rtu n ity was th e re fo r
h e r to be fearless, o p en , a n d relax ed , to becom e a c o m ra d e to h e r h u s
b a n d a n d frien d to h e r c h ild re n ?
A w o rd o r two a b o u t the great variety o f helpful hints to th e hou sew ife/
m o th e r served u p by th e socialist re fo rm e rs should suffice. Labor-saving
im plem ents w ere simply bey on d th e m eans o f all b u t a few w orking women.
N o r did they have th e time to organize the collective use, o r even th e small
change necessary f o r th e collective pu rch ase, o f the same. H ow could the
typical k itch en-and -roo m o r ro om -and-a-half w orker a p a rtm e n t be ratio
nalized, given th e density o f h abitation, multiple use o f all space, a n d fre
q u e n t absence o f basic amenities? T h e p ro b lem was n o t fu r th e r o r b e tte r
o rganization b u t m o re space. F o r m ost w om en, the daily ablutions called fo r
w ould have m ea n t strip p in g in the kitchen in full view o f children a n d o th e r
adults, n o t to speak o f b rin g in g cold w ater from the hallway tap. T he ex e r
cise fo rced u p o n m ost w orking w om en consisted o f h ou seh o ld p reparatio n s
a fte r rising a n d a brisk walk to the workplace. Calisthenics, even fo r ten m in
utes, was fo r w om en with m uch m o re leisure in th eir daily routines. W orking
w om en w ho becam e p re g n a n t surely did not have to be told what was best
for th em a n d the infant to com e. It was not o ut o f ignorance that they cut
sh o rt th e ir legally g u a ra n te e d lying-in a n d p o stp a rtu m leaves but o u t o f fear
o f losing th e ir jobs.68 M oreover, how c ould th e average p regn ant o r nursing
w orking wom an avoid heavy work, as she was counseled to by tin1reform ers,
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lies in the fact that these socialist serm o n s restricting th e conjugal act to
p ro c re a tio n by m arried w om en a n d d e n o u n c in g prem arital sex as the act o f
fallen angels m ight have com e directly from the pastoral letters o f Aus
trian bishops in 1919 a n d virtually every year th e re a fte r.87
T h e above exam ples are typical o f the verbal sublim ation served u p in
th e party literatu re. O n e f u r th e r illustration is necessary to d e m o n stra te the
p re d o m in a n t eugenic strain in virtually all discussions o f the sexual ques
tion. A physician w riting in Die Unzufriedene, th e SD A Ps p o p u la r weekly
aim ed at u n afh liated w om en, p raised the virtues o f m arriage a n d building a
h om e, b u t strongly u rg e d w om en n o t to succum b to the prevalent n o tio n o f
love w ithout m arriage.88 Sexual relations b e fo re the age o f twenty w ere p a r
ticularly dan g ero u s, the d o c to r insisted, because the fem ale sexual organs,
as yet im m ature, w ould be p e rm an en tly d am aged an d fu tu re offspring
might be h arm e d . M oreover, n o w om an should e n te r the state o f m atrim ony
w ithout o b tain in g a certificate o f h ealth from h e r prospective spouse, since
th e well-being o f the n ext g en e ra tio n was at stake.8
In a la te r attack o n sexual abstinence literatu re, Wilhelm Reich singled
o u t the h arm fu lness o f designating an arbitrary age twenty o r even
tw enty-four as medically a p p ro p ria te fo r the onset o f sexual intercourse.
In his ex p erien ce as a sex counselor, he m aintained, those who h a d no t
m ad e the transitio n fro m m a stu rbatio n to in terco u rse by the age o f twenty
e x p e rie n c e d difficulties in d o in g so later.90
As early as 1922, u n d e r the gu idan ce o f the anatom ist Julius T andler,
th e m unicipal council c re a te d a m arriag e co nsultation clinic to certify to the
health o f prospective sexual p a rtn e rs. Its directo r, the gynecologist Karl
Kautsky, J r ., m ade it clear that the central p u rp o se o f the clinic was to p re
vent the in h eritan ce o f disabilities a n d to im prove th e quality o f the p o p
ulation. In his publicity fo r the clinic Kautsky assured the public th at n o co n
traceptives w ould be provided. By 1927 T a n d le r a n d Kautsky w ere forced
to a dm it th a t th e clinic was a failure f o r lack o f clients. In G erm any, by c o n
trast, o n e h u n d r e d such clinics h a d b e e n c re a te d by 1928, providing in fo r
m ation o n c o n tra c e p tio n a n d sexual te c h n iq u e .91
T h e subject o f sexual prom iscuity was also aired in th e m o re scientific
setting o f an in tern atio n al congress o f the W orld League fo r Sexual R eform
in 1931. T h e re T an d ler, a socialist m e m b e r o f the m unicipal council and
h e a d o f its Public W elfare Office, p re s e n te d the official SDAP view.92 Sexual
pro b lem s arising fro m sexual pathology, he asserted, were one o f th e p rin
cipal sources o f m o ral decay a n d social disintegration. T he c h ief cause o f
this misery, he insisted, was the overcrow ding o f habitations; th e re fo re the
basis o f sexual re fo rm m ust be a public p ro g ra m to create new housin g for
the w orking class.93 In th e en su in g discussion T a n d le r was criticized fo r link
ing sexuality essentially with p ro c re a tio n , fo r failing to recognize it as a spe
cial co n d itio n o f h u m a n existence, a n d fo r avoiding the reality that p ro m
iscuity in th e w orking class had its origins in the repression o f w om en by
m e n ." A f u r th e r interpellatio n challenged the right o f society to punish the
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Vienna, also served to e n h a n c e the passivity o f the rank a n d file. A fter all,
w hat n e e d was th e re fo r p o p u la r expression on a b o rtio n (or o n o th e r
issues), w hen th e party claim ed to be taking care o f all o f th e w orkers needs
a n d pro b lem s th ro u g h its netw o rk o f social a n d cultural organizations?
Such criticism m ust n o t overlook the fact th at th e SDAP h a d genuine
reasons fo r fearin g th e op p o sitio n o f the C hristian Socials on the abo rtio n
a n d b irth c o n tro l issues. In no E u ro p e a n c o u ntry did the Catholic church
advance m o re conservative views o r play a m o re d irect political ro le .124
Every a tte m p t by the socialists to red u c e the public influence o f the church,
such as th e abolition o f com pulsory religious instruction in the schools,
resu lted in a b itte r struggle in p arliam en t with the C hristian Socials, an d in
the streets with a ho st o f Catholic A ction g ro u p s .125 Since the church
e q u a te d m orality with Christianity, o f which it was the sole g u ardian an d
only spokesm an, it fo u g h t m ost vigorously any a ttem p ts to ta m p e r with what
it d efin ed loosely as m oral conduct. It e q u a te d a b o rtio n with m u r d e r and
th re a te n e d transgressors with excom m unication, d e n o u n c e d the artificial
restrictio n o f th e n u m b e r o f children in families as blasphemy, o p po sed
coed ucatio n a n d sex e d u catio n in th e schools as invitations to lust, and
b lam ed all these signs o f m o d e rn d e g en eracy on socialist im m orality.126
Several pastoral letters w ere specifically addressed to the m oral co n du ct
o f girls a n d w om en in the form o f a d m o n itio n s.127 Girls w ere to be segre
g ated a n d closely g u a rd e d d u rin g gymnastics a n d swimming; d u rin g medical
exam inations in the schools th eir m odesty was to be assured by fem ale phy
sicians; a n d they w ere to be re stra in e d from m ixed activities such as hiking
a n d d a ncin g o r else be closely c h a p e ro n e d . W om en, as guardians o f p u re
m orality, w ere c a u tio n e d against w earing revealing m o d e rn clothing an d
in stru c te d to b ath e only at sex-segregated pools an d beaches. A ttem pts by
th e ch u rch to convert its m o ral dicta into secular law were narrow ly p r e
v e n te d by th e SDAP o n constitutional g r o u n d s .128
D u rin g the 1920s several incidents b ro u g h t th e K ulturkam pf to the p oint
o f explosion, all o f th em involving sexuality a n d public morality. T h e first
o f these revolved a r o u n d th e V ienna p re m ie re in 1921 o f A rth u r Schnitzle rs play Der Reigen and p itte d the C hristian Social federal governm ent
against th e socialist V iennese municipal a n d provincial g o v e rn m e n t.129 At
issue was the central the m e o f the play in ten scenes linking heterosexual
couples in an u n e n d in g chain o f coital relations. T hese, c u ttin g across class
lines, re p re se n te d a seamless web o f lies a n d desire, deceit a n d misery, cal
culation a n d feeling. T he C hristian Social press waged a cam paign o f d e n u n
ciation against Schnitzler a n d his socialist s u p p o rte rs in vicious anti-Semitic
epithets, an d various C atholic A ction g ro u p s p re p a re d fo r physical in te r
vention to prevent th e plays p e rfo rm a n c e beyond a trial period. T h e SDAP
chose to fight the issue o f p o rn o g ra p h y a n d censorship o n the constitutional
g ro u n d s th at the V iennese g o vernm en t was legally e m p o w ered to make a
decision in the case. T h e party refu sed to d e fe n d the artistic m erits o f
Schnitzlers reflections o n sexuality o r to answ er the Christian Social
charges o f sexual degeneracy. T h e m ayor o f Vienna, J a k o b K cum ann,
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ings re g a rd in g a m inim um age w hen such activities m ight com m ence. Buttin g e r believed this to b e seventeen! His girlfriend was far from happy a bo u t
this delay, a n d la te r o n a b o u t the lim ited satisfaction affo rded by coitus
in te rru p tu s (because o f the unavailability o f contraceptives). A fter several
years o f this relationship the girl m oved to Vienna; B u tting er rem ained
faithful to h e r a n d p racticed abstinence fo r m o re than th re e years. W hat is
revealing a b o u t this a cco u n t is the coexistence o f traditional practices (ini
tiation age) a n d socialist prescription s o n sexuality.
T h a t the party was n o t u naw are o f the limited effectiveness o f its stric
tu re s on sexual pu rity a n d sublim ation can be seen from the disciplinary
m easures taken against party m em bers, especially th e Socialist W o rker
Y outh, f o r unsocialist sexual b e h a v io r.155T h e m ain rem edy fo r such possible
transgressions by socialist y outh was sublim ation th ro u g h body c u ltu re an d
sports, o ffered in the b elief that physical health w ould lead to m ental health
as well.150 In d e e d , nearly m iraculous pow ers were a ttrib u te d to socialist
sports, which w ould n o t build cham pions o r fo ster aggressive com petition
like those o f the bourgeoisie, b u t w ould fu r th e r the d evelopm ent o f collec
tive effort, class solidarity, a n d com rad esh ip a n d at th e same time en co urage
individual physical fulfillm ent (see c h a p te r 5). H ow successful such cold
sh o w erin g was in p re v e n tin g im p u re th o u g h ts a n d deeds we shall see
presently.
T h e socialists p ro m ised liberation o f youth th ro u g h the netw ork o f
party organizations did n o t include sexuality. T h e sexes p articipated
to g e th e r in all the p ro ffe re d activities, b u t n o sexual in teraction was
ex p e c te d to take place. Naivete, puritanism , a n d a d o g ged dete rm in a tio n to
keep all p ow er in th eir own han d s prevailed at the highest level o f party lead
e rs h ip .157 M ino r fu n ctio n aries in d irect contact with adolescent yo u th som e
times dealt with th e palpable sexuality o f th eir charges with toleratio n bu t
m o re generally re m a in e d blind to such tensions in th e ir g ro u p s .158 T h e p a r
tys resp o n se to sexuality in its yo u th organizations, offering m o re o f the
sam e, finally led to a fierce critique o f the whole y ou th p ro g ra m an d p a r
ticularly its avoidance o f th e problem s o f sexuality. F o r a sh o rt time (1 9 3 0 33) the crisis o f y o u th becam e a catchw ord in party circles. W ilhelm Reich
a n d E rn st Fischer w ere the m ain protagonists.
W hat was the n a tu r e o f these critiques o f socialist youth policy? A c o n
stan t in all o f R eichs writings betw een 1929 a n d 1931 was a class analysis
o f th e p ro b le m o f working-class sexuality that w ent as follows159: the d o m i
n a n t b o urg eo is c u ltu re has u sed sexual rep ressio n o f th e w orkers as a m eans
o f subjugation; the poverty o f w orker sexuality (from abstinence to b ru ta l
ity) is m aintain ed by th e conditions u n d e r which w orkers are fo rced to live;
fo r youth, sexual d ep riv atio n has led to a crisis which socialist organizations
have continually evaded; a ttem p ts to sublim ate youthful sexuality th ro u g h
sp o rts a n d o th e r activities have left youth with sexual conflicts that fre
q uently lead to psychological disturbances.
F i s c h e r s a t t a c k o n t h e S D A I * w a s m o r e p o i n t e d . 1110 T h e s o c i a l i s t y o u t h
o r g a n i z a t i o n s , lie c h a r g e d , h a d i n t r o d u c e d r e p r e s s i v e m e c h a n i s m s a g a in s t
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P u r i t a n i s m a n d S e x u a l R e a li ti e s
A fte r this som ew hat heady ex p lo ratio n o f Socialist party concep tio n s and
practices, it becom es necessary to tu r n to th e w orkers everyday life. It is a
w orld which the socialist re fo rm e rs claim ed to u n d e rsta n d b e tte r th a n its
d enizens a n d which, they w ere sure, only they could transform . But in reality
th e w ell-m eaning socialist leaders knew little from firsthand exp erience
about w orkers daily lives. T he following attem p t to recon stru ct w orkers
sexual lives as seen fro m below is b o u n d lo be liau m e n ia rv and to rely in
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W ithout exception, R ada maintains, it cam e fro m the daily ex perience in the
hom e: the p a re n ta l act in the sh ared b e d ro o m , the b irth o f y o u n g er siblings,
the m isfo rtu n e o f an o ld e r sister, discussions am o n g fem ale family m em
bers a n d neighbors. F o r a small p e rc e n ta g e o f girls, this know ledge was su p
p le m e n te d by sexual e x perim en tation .
F o r th e girls in h e r charge, R ada observes, sexuality was n o t som ething
mysterious a n d fo rb id d e n to be w hispered a b ou t. It was talked a b o u t only
rarely and th e n w ithout any sense o f reserve o r sham e (as o n e would find
a m o n g middle-class girls o f th at age). In short, fo r working-class girls sex
uality was a m atter-of-fact p a rt o f th e ir daily lives, which was a cumulative
p a rt o f th eir ex p erien ce fro m the earliest years. O n e o th e r finding deserves
m en tio n . Away fro m school the girls h a d little supervision, with b o th p a r
ents freq u en tly w orking a n d nearly h a lf o f th e girls spen din g even Sundays
o n th eir o w n .171 But, as Sieder makes clear, even in hom es w here th e re was
p a re n ta l supervision the c o n tro l o f hom ew ork by the father, for
instan ce the co m m o n d ete rm in a n ts o f scarcity a n d crow ding prevailed.172
H ild eg ard H e tz e r seconds the findings o f R ada in h e r study o f workingclass children a n d y o u th .171 But she draw s a distinction betw een the caredfo r a n d u nca re d -fo r. It is am o ng th e latte r th at she finds n o t only ready
conversance with sexual subjects b u t also a variety o f sexual experiences
including in te rc o u rse (fourteen- to sixteen-year-old girls). T he cared-for,
she claims, have m o re self-control over th e ir drives a n d are m o re given to
intellectual a n d cultural p u rsu its.174 But h e r categories are vague: by caredf o r she m eans b ou rgeo is o r skilled elite workers; by u n c a re d -fo r she sug
gests the w orking class as a whole. Both H e tz e r a n d Rada, following the lead
o f th eir m e n to r, C h arlo tte Biihler, re g a rd sexual precocity early knowl
ed g e a n d early c o n fro n ta tio n with p ractice as the cause o f intellectual and
cultural im poverishm ent an d o f generally low expectations am o n g workingclass youth and, m ost im p o rta n t, as th e so u rce o f u n c o n tro lle d sexual
e x p re ssio n .175 At th e sam e tim e b o th observed th a t these same yo u th lived
u p to th eir responsibilities at work (school-leaving age was fo u rte e n ) a n d at
ho m e. Both singled o u t precocio us sexuality as a social disability o n the o ne
h an d , yet d e m o n s tra te d o n the o th e r th at the girls gave n o special im p o r
tan ce to sexuality in th eir conversations o r interactions bu t in teg rated the
subject in to th e ir daily lives.
C o uld it be that H e tz e r a n d R ada failed to see that working-class child
h o o d a n d yo u th d e m a n d e d a precocity in all things because ad u lth o o d , o r
at least its heaviest responsibilities, cam e so early? T hey did adm it th a t co n
tro l over drives by th e c a re d -fo r (who c o u ld co n tin u e th eir studies) also went
with childishness a n d d epen den cy . O n e gets th e im pression that these two
studies c re a te d a p ro b le m viewed o u t o f context fo r which only the ideal
ism o f th e SDAP a n d its p ro g ra m s o ffered the solution. A n o th e r way o f
looking at con d ition s in th e p ro le ta ria n h o m e would have b een to c o n fro n t
th e general d ep riv ation am o n g working-class y outh, fo r which n e ith e r psy
chological theories n o r socialist play g ro u p s a n d youth organizations could
offer an alternative.
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organ ization , it was restricted to the out-of-doors d u rin g the tem p erate sea
sons. A cco rd ing to Safrian a n d Sieder, the first genital e n c o u n te rs o f SA)
to o k place a fte r th e age o f e ig h te e n .190 Even th en, fear o f pregnancy was
ever p re se n t am o n g th e you ng w om en, giving a sense o f reality to the d a n
gers o f sexuality p re a c h e d by the socialist le a d e rs.191
N o d o u b t th e socialists in tro d u c tio n o f sex ed ucation in their org an i
zations is praisew orthy, b u t the c o n te n t a n d p u rp o se o f their actual efforts
raise serious d o u b ts a b o u t w h e th e r th eir inten tio ns were to enlighten their
y oung m em bers. In a seminal statem ent o n sexual edu catio n , O tto Kanitz
m ad e it clear that, aside from im p artin g know ledge a b o u t re p ro d u c tio n , sex
e d ucatio n should p re p a re the young fo r the necessary sub o rd inatio n o f
th e ir sex drive to the laws o f socialist ethics.192 A fo rm e r m em b er o f the
C o op erativ e o f Socialist T each ers explains what this m eant in practice: fourteen-year-olds w ere im pressed with the responsibility to be assum ed in later
sexual relations, a n d o ld e r youth w ere le c tu re d on new theories o f child
h o o d sexuality, the O e d ip u s com plex, a n d sexual taboos; bu t in general,
th e re was little advance bey on d the birds a n d th e b ees. ' 98 Similarly, in a
p am p h let in te n d e d fo r socialist teachers a n d youth leaders, the child psy
chologist J o s e p h F rie d ju n g did not go beyond the tim e-w orn animal anal
ogies in rec o m m e n d in g w hat teachers should tell th eir pupils. H e was
extrem ely vague a b o u t what m ight be said to adolescents o th e r th an the
usual cautions a b o u t p ro stitu tio n a n d the responsibilities o f p a r e n th o o d .194
In the SD A Ps a p p ro a c h to the w orkers intim ate sp here as in o th e r
aspects o f the p a rty s cultural p rog ram , th e re is little evidence o f the fre
quently claim ed close relationship to A dlerian individual psychology (see
also c h a p te r 4 ).195 N o d o u b t the idea o f h u m a n malleability subject to in te r
vention a n d im p ro v em en t was attractive to socialist leaders a n d experts
em b ark ed o n creatin g n e u e M en sch en . But if on e looks over the p apers
delivered at the C ongress o f Marxist Individual Psychology held in V ienna
in 1927, o n e is h a rd p u t to find d escriptions o f actual application a n d p ra c
tice.195 Instead, th e re is a pervasive confidence th a t individual psychology
will solve th e sexual p ro blem s o f working-class m en a n d w omen. Such bald
assertions a re s e co n ded by intellectual o bfuscation that can hardly be taken
fo r A dlerian practice. In a p a m ph let o n m arriage d irected at teachers,
Sophie L azersfeld (a leading individual psychologist) discusses the ambiva
lence o f wom en overcom e by the choice betw een being a c om rade o r
m a d o n n a to th eir m ates a n d the d an g ers fo r w om en o f becom ing G alatea
to P ygm alion.197As in terestin g as such subjects m ight have been in th eir own
right, particularly to a small g ro u p o f e d u c a te d female professionals, one
finds it difficult to relate th em to the e d u catio n o f working-class w omen, the
realities o f working-class m arriages, a n d the n arro w g e n d e r roles assigned
to w omen.
W hat clues are th e re to the sex life o f adult Viennese workers? In view
o f the early sexual m a tu ra tio n a n d onset o f adu lt responsibilities, it is not
su rp risin g that sexual in te rc o u rse and cohabitation b efo re m arriage (often
fo r many years) seem s to have been widely p ra c tic e d .198 From the point o f
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view o f socialist reform ers, this b ehavior was exem plary o f th e disorderly
living a m o n g w orkers they aim ed to correct. In working-class n e ig h b o r
h oo d s it was a c cep ted as p a rt o f the co u rtsh ip p a tte rn leading to m arriage.
A n u m b e r o f oral-history subjects r e p o r te d th at th eir p a re n ts gave their
tacit c o n sent to th e ir sexual relationship by allowing the couple to live on
the prem ises. T h e choice o f m arriage p a rtn e rs was largely in th e han d s o f
the y o u n g people. A m on g the desirable characteristics looked fo r in their
prospective m ate, w om en o ften m e n tio n e d safe em ploym ent a n d fidelity.199
It was custom ary fo r c o u rtin g couples to get m arried w hen th e woman
becam e p re g n a n t. T h e cerem ony itself an d the w edding night seldom
a ttain ed th e im p o rta n c e given to th e m by the middle class.200
T h e best so u rce o f indirect in fo rm atio n a b o u t sexuality can be fo u n d in
studies o f the b irth ra te in the w orking class.201 In th e g en e ra tio n o f women
b o rn a fte r 1900, th e m ajority h a d only o n e child a n d virtually n o n e m ore
th a n two.202 This feat was accom plished w ithout the assistance o f the
municipality o r socialist re fo rm e rs by the couples a n d especially by the
w om en themselves. It stem m ed from the recognition by w orkers that their
aspirations to o r m aintainance o f a h ig h e r sta n d a rd o f living d e p e n d e d on
a sm aller family size.203 M oreover, V iennese pro le ta ria n w om en, m ost o f
w hom w ere em ployed fo r wages, app arently recognized that the only pos
sible re d u c tio n in the triple b u rd e n o f work, housew ork, a n d child care
could be achieved th ro u g h red u cin g the n u m b e r o f c h ild ren .204
It is in the d o m ain o f b irth co n tro l, w here p ro letarian couples needed
the m ost assistance, th at th e SDAP failed them m ost abysmally. T h e m ethods
o f c o n tra c e p tio n available to w orkers were primitive, unreliable, im pover
ishing o f the coital act, a n d d an gerou s. W orkers w ho had served in the army
h a d e x p e rie n c e d com m ercial sex a n d beco m e acq u ain ted with condom s.
B ut th e re is little evidence th a t these o r o th e r ru b b e r contraceptives were
used, partly because o f inconvenience (the absence o f privacy to apply these
im plem ents) b u t mainly because o f cost.205 C oitus in te rru p tu s is the form al
tech n iq u e m ost freq uen tly m e n tio n e d in m em oirs a n d oral histories.206 N ot
only was this fo rm o f p revention unreliable, it also d e p e n d e d o n th e skill and
g oo d will o f the male p a rtn e r. C o n tro l a n d re d u c tio n o f births probably
d e p e n d e d at least as m uch on ab o rtio n s re so rte d to by w om en regardless o f
the d a n g e r to th eir h ealth a n d o f falling foul o f the law. It was a m ethod
totally co n tro lle d by the w om en themselves. In a n u m b e r o f cases o f a b o r
tions by m a rrie d w om en th a t cam e to c o u rt, the p ro c e d u re h a d been carried
o u t w ith o ut th e h u sb a n d even know ing th a t his wife was p re g n a n t.207
T h o u g h a b o rtio n was practiced widely as a form o f b irth con tro l, it was
a th re a t to w o m e n s h ealth a n d a bre a c h o f th e law. But th ere are indications
th at p a ra g ra p h 144 was fully subscribed to mainly by the Catholic clergy and
d ie h a rd leaders o f the C hristian Social party. Both the n u m b e r and n o to ri
ety o f a b o rtio n trials a p p e a r to have declined sharply in th e fifteen years
a fte r the war.208 In the sixteen case files fo r the 1 9 2 1 -3 2 that I fo u n d in the
m unicipal archives, n o n e o f the w om en was actually p u nish ed for having
a tte m p te d o r c arried ou t an a bo rtio n. In all o f diem actual sentences were
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179
CHAPTER 7
Conclusion
Against the idea o f force, the force o f ideas.
A u stro m a rx isl a p h o rism
Conclusion
181
P o litic a l L im its
T h e SDAP e m e rg e d as a mass party a fte r the collapse o f th e old regim e at
th e e n d o f the war. Its fu tu re pow er a n d role w ere largely shaped d u rin g
1 9 1 8 -1 9 , w hen politics w ere in flux a n d th e n a tu re o f the new republic was
yet to be d ete rm in e d . T he m ost dynamic political force at the time was the
w o rkers councils, a partly org an ized mass m ovem ent o f w orkers a nd d e m o
bilized soldiers with revolutionary aims that w ent beyond establishing a
republic o n a capitalist base. T h e councils w ere influenced by the Bolshevik
Revolution a n d th e b rie f revolutionary regim es in Bavaria and H ungary. In
V ienna, particularly, w h ere a fledgling C om m unist party was newly active,
th e councils th re a te n d e d to b ecom e the directin g force o f th e masses o f
w orkers, who w ere largely politically u n o rg a n iz e d .1 The SDAP, thus th re a t
e n e d fro m th e left, adroitly m an euv ered the V ienna w orkers council into
accepting the principle o f p ro le ta ria n dem ocracy, which allowed the social
ists to b in d the com m unists a n d o th e r radical g ro u p s to decisions by m a jo r
ity rule. By th e a u tu m n o f 1919, with the co u n te rre v o lu tio n successful in
H un g ary , th e councils w ere p u sh e d to the sidelines. T h e C o n stitu en t Assem
bly, which h a d b e e n elected in F ebruary, was able to function a n d secure the
new republic w ithout f u r th e r th re a t o f an alternative so urce o f power.
T h e socialists h a d su cceed ed in keeping revolution fro m the gates o f
Vienna. H a d they gain ed by it, a n d if so, what? T h e SDAP succeeded in mak
ing itself the sole spokesm an fo r the w orkers o f A ustria, able to fo rm u late
its p ro g ram s and to navigate the parliam entary w aters w ithout being seri
ously challenged by th e C om m un ist party (KPO), which rem ain ed a sect
th ro u g h o u t th e p e rio d .2 But the w ithering away o f the w orkers councils also
h a d its costs fo r the socialists. Until th e a d o p tio n o f th e constitution in 1920,
the councils served as a p ow erful re m in d e r to the C hristian Social a n d PanG erm an parties o f a revolution that th re a te n e d to c reate a social o rd e r
totally u n a ccep tab le to them . T h e SDAP h a d gained 43.4% o f the seats in
th e C on stitution al Assembly, c o m p a re d to 54.7% fo r the com b in ed o p p o
sition, yet re m a in e d th e d o m in a n t p a r tn e r in th e coalition fo rm e d with the
C hristian Socials. This short-lived advantage m ust be a ttrib u te d to the c o u n
cils dem o nstrative presen ce in Vienna.
N o d o u b t th e SDAP played this radical ca rd to its advantage in pushing
th ro u g h fu n d a m e n ta l social and econom ic legislation at the time. But
should it have p ressed fo r m o re d e m a n d e d stru c tu ra l refo rm s an d c o n
stitutional g u a ra n te e s th at would have served its long-range socialist goals
a n d put th e republic on a s o u n d e r fo u nd atio n? T h e re is n o easy answer. O n
th e whole, th e SDAP leadership was u n p re p a re d for the rapidly moving
events su rro u n d in g the collapse o f the old o r d e r a n d the party's em erging
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to p o w e r th ro u g h
t h e p o l l s w a s i l l u s o r y in
Conclusion
a n o th e r sense. W hat if th e magical 51% had actually been reached? W ould
the socialists th e n have b e e n able to use th e ir dem ocratically gained right to
nationalize th e m eans o f p ro d u c tio n , as the Linz P ro g ram o f 1926 p r o
claimed? Given the d e e p political a n d ideological divisions in Austria, such
a step w ould certainly have led to civil war, fo r w hat a m o u nts to a social rev
olu tio n c a n n o t be u n d e rta k e n with a slim p arliam entary majority, especially
w hen the d e fe a te d m inority is p r e p a re d to d e fe n d its contrary interests with
force. T h a t was th e c onclusion arrived at by L o n Blum, h ead o f the French
P o p lu la r F ro n t g o v e rn m e n t in 1936, when a general strike signaled populat
s u p p o rt fa r g re a te r th a n th e slim m ajority by which the Blum governm ent
a tta in e d pow er. C o n siderin g th e actual disposition o f political f o n t s and
interests in th e p op u la tio n , Blum co ncluded, the socialists could exercise
p ow er in alliance with o th e rs b u t could n o t c o n q u e r it, in the sense o f
tra n sfo rm in g capitalism into socialism. 5
T h e claims to tran sfo rm atio n al pow er o n th e basis o f a slim electoral
m ajority in a society divided in to two bitterly o p p o se d cam ps flirted with
civil war, which B a u e r insisted was to be avoided at virtually any cost. I lis
c o n c e p t o f th e balance o f class fo rces th e A ustrom arxist leitmotiv o f
the First R epublic was a theoretical device to keep the republic intact
while th e socialists so ug h t to increase th eir electo rate and p re p a re d the
w orkers culturally fo r th e ir fu tu re mission. But, as B a u e rs critics had
p o in te d o u t in 1924, o n e c o u ld hardly speak o f a balance o f class pow er
w hen the capitalist system a n d its social o r d e r r em ained in control, o r even
o f a long-range equilibrium , since th e conservative opposition had
r e g ro u p e d a fte r its b rie f disarray im m ediately a fte r the war.1 But n e ith e r
B a u e rs n o r th e p a rty s position was alte re d by these critiques. C onse
quently, the cu ltu ral p ro je c t rested o n the illusion that a supportive political
co n te x t w ould develop in ta n d e m with it. T h e police violence o n July 15,
1927, d u rin g th e w o rk e rs attack o n the Palace o f Ju stice, shook the confi
d e n c e o f m any socialists in the n eutrality o f the state. Karl R e n n e r suggested
that th e SDAP e n te r in to a coalition with th e C hristian Socials in o r d e r to
safeg uard the republic. It was rejected by B auer o u t o f h a n d as req u irin g
th e a b a n d o n m e n t o f the e n tire cultural effort in V ienna.7
A fte r 1927, as th e political fo rtu n e s o f the SDAP grew d im m er, the cul
tu ra l p ro ject, originally conceived as a m ajo r w eapon in th e arm o ry o f class
struggle, m o re a n d m o re becam e a sub stitu te fo r politics. T he cultural
e x p e rim e n t a n d V ienna becam e synonym ous, as the capital-enclave increas
ingly assum ed a defensive position in a hostile country. T ow ard the en d, the
socialists p ro je c te d relationship betw een politics and cultu re becam e
reversed. In ste a d o f providing a p ro te c te d en v iro n m en t for culture, politics
d e p e n d e d m o re a n d m o re o n cultural expression. T h e 100,000 workers,
re p re s e n tin g th e gam u t o f cu ltu ral organizations, p a ra d in g th ro u g h the
streets o f V ienna d u rin g the In tern atio n al W ork er O lympics in 1931, an d
th e m o re th a n 20 0 ,0 0 0 sp ectato rs at th e w orker festival in the new stadium
celebratin g the symbolic fall o f capitalism, w ere n e ith e r c u ltu re n o r politics,
but a m e ta p h o r for both. O p p o n e n ts o f the SDAP ( ( lluistian Socials, Pan-
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Cultural L im its
T h e specific shortcom ings o f the socialists cultural p ro ject have b een th o r
oughly discussed in the body o f this work. T h e re are, however, a n u m b e r o f
questions raised by the ex p e rim e n t which deserve fu r th e r com m ent. W hat
is a socialist c u ltu re a n d who d eterm ines its content? W hat d an g ers are
in h e re n t in the discipline by which such a c ultural p ro g ra m is im plem ented
an d in the o rderliness tow ard which it strives? In w hat sense was th e A ustromarxist ex p e rim e n t b o th a m odel a n d a d e a d end?
L eaders o f the SDAP were vague a b o u t th e socialist c o n te n t o r quality
o f the varied facets o f th eir cultural p rog ram . T o be sure, th e w orkers were
to be e d u c a te d a n d th ereb y b ro u g h t to a hig h er level o f consciousness and
provided with the facilities a n d necessities o f a m o re dignified life. It
rem ain ed u n c le a r how such an individual a n d collective im provem ent was
different from old-fashioned liberal ideals which h a d b ecom e platitudinous.
Similarly, m o re a n d b e tte r housing, kindergartens, a n d libraries were c e r
tainly desirable, b u t did these im provem ents differ from th e goals o f the
reform ist socialism th e A ustrom arxists w ere com m itted to surpassing? T he
socialists essence so ug h t a fte r by the SDAP becom es m ost illusive in the
arts.9 Did a sym phony by B eethoven becom e socialist if it was played by the
W o rk e rs S ym phony O rc h e stra fo r an audience o f w orkers, as was suggested
at the time? W hat m ade Jack L o n d o n an acceptable a u th o r a n d Karl May a
pu rvey o r o f kitsch in the eyes o f socialist c u ltu re experts? Why were Kthe
Kollwitzs paintings o f lower-class misery p re fe rre d to a m a d o n n a by R aph
ael? W hat w ere the c riteria used to d ete rm in e a p p ro p ria te n e ss o r desirabil
ity from a socialist perspective o f ho m e furnishings, decorations, books,
dress, radio pro gram s, a n d so on?
I am n o t d efe n d in g th e im poverished taste prevalent in w orker subcul
tures. T he knickknacks, antim acassars, fra m e d proverbs, a n d o th e r items
which a d o rn e d w o rkers ho m es speak fo r a w idespread deprivation o f taste,
lack o f o p p o rtu n ity to com e in contact with the w ider world, and c o n
strain ed h o u se h o ld budgets. But, how ever p o o r an d deficient the w orkers
taste was, it could n o t simply be co m m a n d e d away by p eop le outside the
su b cultures a n d rep laced by items alien to them . T he edu cation o f taste has
b e e n fo u n d to be a slow a n d long-term process.
All questions a b o u t th e socialist c o n te n t o r essence o f c u ltu re lead us
back to the valuers who d e te rm in e d what should be included and excluded
in th e m en u o f c u ltu re set b e fo re the workers. It was a small elite o f party
leaders a n d d ire c to rs o f cultural p rog ram s who m ade such decisions. T h eir
values a n d tastes reflet ted th eir own generally middle-class a n d G erm an-/#/-
Conclusion
rfMng'-oriented socialization, o r an a d ap tatio n to the values em anating from
it, r a th e r th a n th e vague ideal o f a socialist culture. O n e o f the most im p or
ta n t d e m o n stra tio n s o f the Viennese ex p e rim e n t is that a cultural p rogram
p ro je c te d from above o n to a p o p ulatio n below is destined to rem ain the
expression o f an elite. T he go o d in tentions o f leaders are not sulli< ient t<>
make a cu ltu ral p ro g ra m truly p o p u la r a n d acceptable. It would seem lhal
only by a grad ual process o f negotiation betw een cultural innovators 01
re fo rm e rs a n d th e existing su bcu ltu res they h o p e to elevate, could tliei < l><a move tow ard the kind o f tra n sfo rm a tio n th e A ustrom arxists envisaged.
N ot only was th e c o n te n t o f the socialists project problem atic; the
m eans by which it was carried ou t, a n d th e d em an d s it made on those foi
w hom it was in te n d e d , also help to explain its limited success at the time and
are revealing a b o u t cu ltu ral ex perim ents in general. T h e socialist leaders
a p p e a re d as auth ority figures in the w o rk ers world in two related guises: as
city fathers a n d as oligarchs o f the SDAP. F u rth e rm o re , their c ultural pro
g ram was paternalistic, especially in its d e m a n d fo r discipline both in the
organizations themselves a n d on the p a rt o f the w orkers u n d e rg o in g c ivi
lization. This m e th o d o f c o n tro l clearly co n tra d ic te d the A ustrom arxists'
long-range goal o f creatin g self-confident a n d assertive workers. T he call foi
an o rderly a n d respectable w orker family (aside fro m echoing what middleclass critics h a d d e m a n d e d fo r som e time) was ultimately aim ed at the diver
sity o f life-styles in working-class com m unities. I have no intention ol
rom anticizing w o rk er su bcu ltu res by overlooking th e form s o f dissonance
to be fo u n d there. But these w ere far outw eighed by codes o f coping with
th e hardships o f life in a respectable m ann er. N o m a tte r how well m eant,
th e socialists co n sta n t reiteratio n o f the ne e d fo r b e tte rm e n t not only
d e m e a n e d th e w orkers fo r w hat they were, b u t also, indirectly, suggested
c o nfo rm ism o f a new kind. In the socialists struggle to save the workers
fro m the effects o f com m ercial a n d mass cu ltu re, they seem not to have real
ized th at they w ere equally guilty o f tu rn in g the w orkers into passive c o n
sum ers, albeit o f th eir own b ra n d o f cultural products.
T h e Viennese cultural ex p erim en t rem ains the clearest exam ple ol the
possibilities and limits o f providing a fo retaste o f the socialist utopia in the'
p re se n t, o f devising a n d im planting a u n iq u e p ro letarian c u ltu re in a society
that has n o t e x p e rie n c e d a fun d am en tal re v o lu tio n .10 As a m odel it reveals
the fragility o f such an en terp rise, because o f its clear d e p e n d e n c e on polit
ical pow er. It also d em o n strates that c u ltu re p e r se c a n n o t com p en sate lot
the econom ic deprivations a n d general hard ship s o f life. T he lofty goal ol
e d ucatio n fo r know ledge was circum scribed by the m eans o f its im plem en
tation, in th e relationship betw een subject an d object, leaders and masses.
P erhap s the m ost significant legacy o f the V ienna ex p erien ce is the concrete
challenge it p resents to the once fashionable in te rp re ta tio n o f (Iramsc i's
hegem ony theory, which suggests that the w orkers could create a c o un terhegem onic c u ltu re b e fo re they succeeded in c a p tu rin g state p o w er."
In interw ar E u ro p e red V iennas experim ent to c reate a working-c lass
c u ltu re without revolution re p re se n te d a c o u n te rm o d e l to Stalinist totali
Red Vienna
186
sind
sind
sind
sind
We
We
We
We
are
are
are
are
the
the
the
the
Notes
Chapter 1
1. By the early 1930s the Heimwehr was a formidable paramilitary organization
with a small delegation in parliament (Heimatblock) on which Chancellor Engelbert
Dollfuss depended in dismantling the republican structure. Its politics was a mixture
o f nostalgic monarchism, pan-Germanism, and fascism given coherence by a violent
antisocialism. U nder the leadership o f Prince Ernst Rudiger von Starhemberg, it
p ursued a putschist policy and played a vital role in the February events. See C. Earl
Edmondson, The Heimwehr and February 1934: Reflections and Questions, in
Anson Rabinbach, ed., The Austrian Socialist Experiment: Social Democracy and Austromarxism, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 4 (Boulder, Colo., 1985); idem, The Heimwehr and Austrian Pol
itics, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 6 (Athens, Ga., 1978); F. L. Carsten, Fascist Movements in Austria
(London, 1977); and Ludwig Jedlicka, The Austrian Heimwehr, in Walter
L aqueur and George L. Mosse, eds., International Fascism, 1 9 2 0 -1 9 4 5 (New York,
1966).
2. Le Populaire, Feb. 14 and 15, 1934. In the latter issue the Trade Union Inter
national (IFTU), meeting in Paris, issued a statement o f solidarity with the Austrian
workers.
3. Daily Herald, Feb. 14, 1934. In the same issue the TUC announced the crea
tion o f a Fund to Aid Austrian Workers and on the following day rep orted that sub
stantial monies already had been pledged.
4. Le Populaire, Feb. 16, 1934. All translations are my own unless otherwise
noted.
5. Daily Herald, Feb. 17, 1934.
6. See Marcel Cachin on Feb. 16 and 19, 1934. His claim that the policy o f
accommodation had led both the German and Austrian Socialist parties to defeat
had a certain credibility. H e o f course failed to mention the considerable responsi
bility o f the German Communist party for the collapse o f the German left.
7. See Rundschau liber Politik, Wirtschaft und Arheiterbewegung, March 1, 1934,
663.
8. See James Donnadieu, Le Temps, Feb. 14, 1934. He also blamed the Heim
wehr, but considered the socialists more responsible for the crisis.
9. S e e W l a d i m i r D O r m e s s o n , Le Figaro, F e b . I 7, 1934. A u s t r i a n so cialism in its
V i e n n e s e en c la v e , lie c la i m e d , s u l f e r e d f r o m e x h a u s t i o n : a n inability t o f u r l h e r a n i
m a t e t h e m asses save f o r " d a n g e r o u s inc ite m e n t to class w a r f a r e , "
188
Notes to Pages 4 -7
189
tie u n d Rtesystem, Der Kam pf 14 (1921). See also the analysis in Raimond Lw,
Otto Hauer und die russische Revolution (Vienna, 1980), 4 2 -5 5 , and Marramao, Zum
Problem d er Demokratie.
23. See Helmut G ruber, Lon Blum, French Socialism, and the Popular Front: A Case
of Internal Contradictions (Ithaca, N.Y., 1986); idem, The German Socialist Execu
tive in Exile, 1933-1939: Democracy as Internal Contradiction, in Wolfgang Maderth an er and H elm ut G ruber eds., Chance und Illusion Labor in Retreat (Vienna,
1988).
24. See the brilliant exposition o f this dilemma by George Orwell in The Road to
Wigan Pier (New York, 1958), 135-36, 16069.
25. This tendency o f organic leaders to abandon their milieu for the values of the
dom inant culture prevailed in o ther interwar socialist parties. Fredrich Ebert and
O tto Weis, successive heads of the German SPD, are clear examples.
26. See Quintin H oare and Geoffrey N. Smith, eds., Selections from the Prison
Notebooks o f Antonio Gramsci (New York, 1971), and the perceptive analysis in Jerom e
Karabel, Revolutionary Contradictions: Antonio Gramsci and the Problem o f Intel
lectuals, Politics & Society 6:2 (1976). Ultimately, Gramsci questioned whether the
proletariat could creat its own stratum o f intellectuals before the conquest of state
power. See Antonio Gramsci, The Modern Prince and Other Writings (London, 1957),
49 -5 0.
27. See J. Robert Wegs, Working-Class Respectability: The Viennese Experi
ence, "Journal o f Social History 15:4 (Summer 1982).
28. The controversy about mass culture continues to rage today. For an inter
esting exposition, see the position paper by Michael Denning entitled The End of
Mass C ulture and the critical commentaries by Janice Radway, Luisa Passerini, Wil
liam Taylor, and Adelheid von Saldern in International Labor and Working-Class His
tory 37 (Spring 1990). See also D ennings response in the same journal, The Ends
o f Ending Mass C ulture, ibid., 38 (Fall 1990).
29. Unfortunately a history o f the Catholic church during the First Republic has
not yet been written. Considering the continued prominence o f the church in public
life, (Sunday Mass on the national radio station, for instance), there is little likelihood
that someone will dare to puncture the gentle self-criticism the church has used to
cover its true past.
30. William J. McGrath calls this substitution of culture for politics, whose roots
lay in prewar Austria, the politics o f m etap h or o r politics o f illusion. See his
Dionysian Art and Populist Politics in Austria (New Haven, Conn., 1974). The concept
originated with Carl E. Schorske in Politics in a New Key: An Austrian Triptych,
The Journal of Modern Histoiy 39 (1967).
31. For an excellent summary of economic conditions, see Hans K ernbauer and
Fritz Weber, Von der Inflation zur Depression: sterreichs Wirtschaft, 19181934, in E. Talos and W. N eugebauer, eds., Austrofaschismus: Beitrge ber Politik,
konomie und Kultur, 1 9 3 4 -1 9 3 8 (V ienna, 1984).
32. Most authorities list 557,000 unemployed, o r 26 percent o f the potential
labor force, for 1933. See for instance Dieter Stiefel, Arbeitslosigkeit: Soziale, poli
tische und wirtschaftliche Auswirkungen am Beispiel sterreichs, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 8 (Berlin,
1979), 2 8 -2 9 . But official statistics left out large groups such as the long-term unem
ployed and the young, who had been prevented f rom entering the labor market. An
upward revision might increase the n um ber o f unemployed by 200,000, bringing the
total to 38 percent. See Ernst Bruckmller, Sozialgeschichte sterreichs (Vienna,
19 8 5 ), 5 0 0 .
C h a p te r 2
1. Carl E. Schorske, Fin-de-siecle Vienna: Politics and Culture (New York, 1980).
Four o f Schorskes seven chapters were published in essay form between 1961 and
1973 and exerted considerable influence on two works published before Schorskes
magnum opus. See Allan Janik and Stephen Toulmin, Wittgensteins Vienna (New
York, 1973), and William McGrath, Dionysian Art and Populist Politics in Austria (New
Haven, Conn., 1974). In all three works the tendency is very strong to project elite
culture as all culture and to offer the form er as an emblem for society as a whole.
For a critique of this tendency, see Dieter Schrge, Klimt Ikone und Waschbot
tich: Zum Traum und Wirklichkeit um 1900, in H ubert Ehalt, et ai., Glcklich ist,
wer v e r g i s s t D a s andere Wien um 1 9 0 0 (Vienna, 1986).
2. The others were London, Paris, and Berlin.
3. The film (with the English subtitle The Joyless Street) was based on a novel by
the Austrian sexual reform er H ugo Bettauer, published in 1923 and serialized in
Neue Freie Presse. Before public screening the film underw ent considerable cutting
to reduce the unrelenting realism. Even so, in England public showings were p ro
hibited. See Siegfried Kracauer, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological Study of the
German Film (New York, 1959), 167-70.
4. Walter R uttm anns film Berlin, die Symphonie einer Grossstadt (1927) attem pted
to present the farrago o f everyday life in the metropolis by using the technique of
montage. Ibid., 182-88.
5. The best source for the birth pains o f the new republic is still Charles A. Gulick,
Austria from Hahsburg to Hitler (Berkeley, Calif., 1948), I: 43-65.
6. See Klemens von Klemperer, The H absburg Heritage: Some Pointers for a
Study of the First Austrian Republic, in Anson Rabinbach, ed., The Austrian Social
ist Experiment: Social Democracy and Austromarxism, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 4 (Boulder, Colo.,
1985), 13.
7. Karls statement had been written by Ignaz Seipel, minister o f social welfare
in the last monarchical government, in such an ambiguous way as to leave open the
possibility o f a H absburg restoration. The word abdicate was never used. See Rob
ert Stger, Der christliche F h rer und die wahre Demokratie: Zu den Demokra
tiekonzeptionen von Ignaz Seipel, in Archiv: Jahrbuch des Vereins fr Geschichte der
Arbeiterbewegung 2 (1986): 5 4 -6 7 , especially 55. Stger places this and other
instances within the context o f Seipels passionate authoritarianism.
8. See Hans H autm ann, Die verlorene Rterepublik: Am Beispiel der Kommunis
tischen Partei Deutschsterreichs, 2nd enlarged ed. (Vienna, 1971), 71-80.
9. Jo h n Bunzel, Arbeiterbewegung, Judenfrage und Antisemitismus am Beis
piel des Weiner Bezirks Leopoldstadt, in G erhard Botz et al., Bewegung und Klasse:
Studien zur sterreichischen Arbeitergeschichte (Vienna, 1978), 744; and Karl M. Brousek, Wien und seine Tschechen: Integration und Assimilation einer Minderheit im 20. Jahr
hundert (Vienna, 1980), 31-35.
10. Felix Czeike, Geschichte der Stadt Wien (Vienna, 1981), ch. 8.
11. Renate Benik-Schweitzer and G erhard Meissl, Industriestadt Wien: Die Durch
setzung der industriellen Marktproduktion in der Habsburgerresidenz (Vienna, 1983), 35,
38, 4 6 -4 7 , 135, 111.
12. A m o n g lliose w hic h r e m a i n e d w e r e T a h a k r e g i e ( ) t t a k r i n g K.- F a v o r i te n will)
1,000 w o r k e r s ; L. R s c h e r He Co. ( D u n l o p ) with 1,800 w o r k e r s a n d e m p lo y e e s ;
191
23. For the stress o f postwar life on working-class children and youth, see Hans
Safrian and Reinhard Sieder, Gassenkinder, Strassenkmpfer: Zur politischen
Sozialisation einer A rbeitergeneration in Wien 1900 bis 1938, in Lutz Niethammer
and Alexander von Plato, eds., Wir kriegen jetzt andere Zeiten (Berlin, 1985), 120-25;
and Reinhard Sieder, "Behind the Lines: Working-Class Families in Wartime
Vienna, in Richard Wall and Jay Winter, eds., The Upheaval of War: Family, Work
and Welfare in Europe, 1 9 I I 1918 (Cambridge, 1988).
24. See H a n s l l a u i m a n n a n d R u d o l f K r o p f , Die sterreichische Arbeiterbewegung
r oin Vormrz bis 1 9 1 1 , 3 r d rcv. e d . (V ie n n a, 1974), 122 23.
25. O l l o B auet m a d e il q u i t e < Icai lh al Ih e SDAP le a r e tl w o i k e i spoiii.inie ly a n d
192
sought to control and contain the mass movement. See sterreichische Revolution,
84ff. O n the danger to democracy posed by soviet-styled experiments, see O tto
Bauer, Rtediktatur oder Demokratie?, Die Arbeiter-Zeitung, March 28, 1919. For
the reaction o f the Austrian workers councils to the Hungarian Soviet Republic, see
Julius Braunthal, Die Arbeiterrte in Deutschsterreich (Vienna, 1919).
26. See Rolf Reventlow, Zwischen Alliierten und Bolschewiken: Arbeiterrte in ster
reich, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 2 3 (Vienna, 1969), 69ff, 124; Botz, Gewalt Politik, 72-80.
27. For attitudes toward proletarian dictatorship in the SDAP see Raimond Low,
Otto Bauer und die russische Revolution (Vienna, 1980), 42 -5 5.
28. See Gruber, International Communism Lenin, 177-78.
29. An example o f the rationalizing role o f theory is Bauers explanation o f the
elections to the Constituent Assembly in 1919. The socialists had received 40.76%
o f the vote and had the largest num ber o f seats, but could not govern alone and had
to share power with their sworn opponents, who shattered the coalition one year
later. Characterizing the election results several years later, Bauer said that the
socialists had captured predom inant power in the Republic. See Anson Rabinbach, The Crisis of Austrian Socialism: From Red Vienna to C ivil War, 1 9 2 7 -1 9 3 4 (Chi
cago, 1983), 22.
30. Virtually every socialist party in the interwar years was in the hands o f an oli
garchical leadership which spoke in the name o f the party but had little use for inter
nal democracy, alternate views, factions, o r grass-roots initiatives. See Helmut
G ruber, Lon Blum, French Socialism, and the Popular Front: A Case of Internal Contra
dictions (Ithaca, N.Y., 1986), 1-3 and idem., The German Socialist Executive in
Exile, 1933-1939: Democracy as Internal. Contradiction, in Wolfgang Maderthan er and Helmut G ruber, eds., Chance und Illusion: Labor in Retreat (Vienna, 1988),
185-89 and preface.
31. See Fritz Klenner, Die sterreichischen Gewerkschaften (Vienna, 1953), I: 520;
Gulick, Austria, I: xi, 258-59. Membership by Viennese workers in the Catholic
W orkers Association am ounted to only 7% o f the total socialist union membership.
Ibid., 2 7 -2 8 , 266-67.
32. See Alfred G. Frei, Rotes Wien: Austromarxismus und Arbeiterkultur (Berlin,
1984), 5 8 -5 9 ; Hans H autm ann and Rudolf Hautm ann, Die Wohnbautender Gemeinde
Wien (Vienna, 1980), 31-32.
33. See P eter Kulemann, Am Beispiel Austromarxismus: Sozialdemokratische Arbei
terbewegung in sterreich von Hainfeld bis zur Dollfuss-Diktatur (Hamburg, 1979),
304-7.
34. By 1927 the socialist vote in Vienna reached 60.3%. In the same year 55.5%
o f the votes cast for the SDAP came from party members, as com pared to 21.5% in
1919. See Frei, Rotes Wien, 60.
35. Gulick, Austria, I: 690.
36. A second coalition government was formed in O ctober 1919. But conserva
tive resistance to the socialists reform demands led to the breakup o f the coalition
in Ju n e 1920. From then on the SDAP behaved very much like a social democratic
oppositon in refusing to consider participation in coalition governments.
37. For the reform legislation, see Gulick, Austria, I: 175ff; Julius Braunthal, Die
Sozialpolitik der Republik (Vienna, 1919); and O tto Bauer, Der Weg zum Sozialismus
(Vienna, 1919).
38. It was actually a euphemism for the forty-eight-hour week usually involving
live full days and a Saturday o f half-day work. W om ens weekly hours un d er the law
were reduced to forty-four.
194
dislocations after 1918 erased most o f these gains. Thus the drastic rent reductions
in the worker budget mainly com pensated for other losses. See Michael John,
Wohnpolitische A useinandersetzungen in d e r Ersten Republik insbesondere aus
serhalb des Parlam ents, in Konrad and M aderthaner, eds., Neuere Studien, I: 2 4 7 54.
50. See sterreichische Revolution, introduction.
51. My list o f titles in use during the First Republic is by no means complete (or
even perfectly accurate), being derived from the memory o f elderly Viennese
acquaintances. Title mania is even m ore p ronounced in the Second Republic, espe
cially am ong socialists. O ne well-known form er director of a principal Viennese
archive had seven titles before his name, all o f which had to be included in any cor
respondence with him if one expected a favorable response.
52. With one exception, Austrian socialist rituals and their relation to older cul
tural forms have not been studied. See the excellent Ph.D dissertation by Bla Rasky,
Arbeiterfesttage: Die Fest- und Feierkultur d er sozialdemokratischen Bewegung in
d er Ersten Republik sterreich, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 4 , (University o f Vienna, 1985), espe
cially 3 8 6 -9 5 . For an interesting introduction to the symbolism o f German worker
rituals, see G ottfried Korff, Rofe Fahnen und geballte Faust: Zur Symbolik der
A rbeiterbewegung in d e r W eimarer Republic, in Dietman Petina, Fahnen, Fuste,
Krper: Symbolic und K ultur der Arbeiterbewegung (Essen, 1986).
53. See Reinhard Sieder, Gassenkinder, Aufrisse: Zeitschrift f r politische B il
dung 5:4 (1984): 8-11 .
54. See Bruckmller, Sozialgeschichte, 504 -5 .
55. O n the question o f viability and Anschluss, see the excellent succinct article
by Bruce F. Pauley, The Social and Economic Background o f Austrias Lebensun
fhigkeit, in Rabinback, ed., Austrian Socialist Experiment, 21 -3 7 . See also O tto
Bauer, Acht Monate Auswrtige Politik (Vienna, 1919); K. W. Rothschild, Austria s Eco
nomic Development Between Two Wars (London, 1947); Lajos Kerekes, Wirtschaf
tliche und soziale Lage sterreichs nach dem Zerfall der D oppelm onarchie, in
Rudolf Neck and Adam Wandruska, eds., Beitrge zur Zeitgeschichte (St. Plten,
1976); and Guliek, Austria, I: 52-55.
56. Pauley, Lebensunfhigkeit, 29-30.
57. Klemens von Klemperer, Ignaz Seipel: Christian Statesman in a Time of Crisis
(Princeton, N.J., 1972), 177ff.
58. But in 1900 Germ an was the language spoken at home by only 36% of the
Viennese: 23% spoke Czech, 17% spoke Polish, and 13% spoke Ruthenian, while the
rest were divided am ong Slovenian, Serbo-Croation, Italian, Rumanian, and H u n
garian. See F,va Viethen, Wiener Arbeiterinnen: Leben zwischen Familie, L ohn
arbeit und politischem Engagement (Ph.D diss., University o f Vienna, 1984), 168.
59. C. A. Macartney, The Social Revolution in Austria (Cambridge, 1926), 98.
60. In 1923 there were 112,000 Czechoslovakian citizens resident in Vienna.
Com bined with the 100,000 to 120,000 Czechs with Austrian citizenship, the total
community was a significant enclave within the Viennese population. See Albert
Lichtblau, esk Vjden: Von d er tschechischen Grossstadt zum tschechischen
D orf, Archiv: Jahrbuch des Vereins f r Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung 3 (1987): 3 4 41, 45, n. 18.
61. Ibid., 4 1 -4 4 .
62. For the racial anti-Semitism o f G eorg von Schnerer and Karl Leuger, see
Schorske, Fin-de-Siecle Vienna, 126-32, 138 43.
195
63. See Jo h n W. Boyer, Political Radicalism in Late Imperial Vienna: Origins of the
Christian Social Movement (Chicago, 1981), ch. 6.
64. Joseph Roth, Ju d e n a u f Wanderschaft Wien, in Ruth Beckermann, ed.,
Die Mazzesinsel: Juden in der Wiener Leopoldstadt, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 8 (Vienna, 1984), 35.
196
Zeitung and Der Kampf. For the above, see Ibid., 158-60, 165-66. See also Bunzel,
Arbeiterbewegung Ju den frage, 760-6 1, and Beckermann, Mazzes-insel, 20. For
citations o f anti-Semitic election posters o f the SDAP and the use o f a Yiddish dialect
parody by a socialist in parliament, see George E. Berkley, Vienna and Its Jews: The
Tragedy of Success, 1 8 8 0 s-1 9 8 0 s (Cambridge, Mass., 1988), 160-61, 166-67.
75. In Weimar Germany the Socialist party (SPD) regularly defended German
Jews from the rising anti-Semitism. Jacobs, Austrian Social Democracy, 163.
76. Cited in Joel Colton, Lon Blum: Humanist in Politics (Durham, N.C.,
1987), 6.
77. See Pierre Birnbaum, Un mythe politique: La Rpublique ju iv e de Lon Blum
Pierre Mends-France (Paris, 1988), 6 1 -8 5 . It has been generally assumed that Austromarxism became the theoretical means o f providing Austrian socialism with the
ideals o f the Enlightenment so largely absent from the intellectual environment o f
the old Dual Monarchy. The relationship between Enlightenment and German cul
ture on the part o f Austromarxism is one o f the subjects o f the second part o f this
chapter.
78. See Wiener Dizesanblatt (Vienna, 1919), 1-3, and St. Pltner Dizensanblatt
(Vienna, 1919), 5-7.
79. O ne afternoon a week was set aside for religious instruction in the schools.
Since a majority o f the pupils were Catholic, a priest came to the classroom, and
children o f other faiths had to take their instruction elsewhere. Marriage ceremonies
had to be religious as well as o f secular record. Only those who had legally established
themselves as having no religion (Konfessionslos) were entitled to a strictly secular
marriage.
80. It would be difficult to find another republic in Europe at that time where
religious officials could hold any public office, least o f all as head o f government.
81. In France, by comparison, leading Catholic intellectuals such as Franois
Mauriac and Jacques Maritain, the Catholic youth, and even Cardinal Verdier, the
archbishop o f Paris, considered collaboration on social issues with working-class
organizations during the early 1930s. In Catholic publications such as Esprit and
Vendredi, a strong anticapitalist cu rrent prevailed. See James Stell, La main tendu e, the French Communist Party and the Catholic Church, 1 9 3 5 -3 7, in Martin
S. Alexander and Helen Graham, eds., The French and Spanish Popular Fronts: Com
parative Perspectives (Cambridge, 1989), 97-100.
82. See Aus christlicher Verantwortung am Schicksal d er sozialistischen Be
wegung teilnehm e: Gesprch mit O tto Bauer, dem Vorsitzenden d er Religisen
Sozialisten, ber die Entwicklung zum 12. Februar 1934, Mitbestimmung 13:5
(1984); 26-29.
83. See Wolfgang M aderthaner, Kirche u n d Sozialdemokratie: Aspekte des
Verhltnisses von politischen Klerikalismus u n d sozialistischer Arbeiterschaft bis
zum Ja h re 1938, in Konrad and M aderthander, eds., Neuere Studien, III: 538-41.
84. Although the Catholic majority in Vienna was 87%, only 10% o f these Cath
olics attended Sunday church service. See Ernst Hanish, Der politische Katholizis
mus als ideologischer Trger des Austrofaschismus, in E. Talos and W. Neuge
bauer,eds., Austrofaschismus: Beitrge ber Politik, konomie und Kultur, 1 9 3 4 -1 9 3 8
(Vienna, 1984), 55 -5 6 .
85. See Der Pionier: Mitteilungsblatt des Landesvereines Wien des Freidenkerbund
sterreichs 4:9 (Sept. 1929): 56. Resignations in 1927 reached 120,000, or every
fiftieth Catholic. More than 80% of these were in Vienna, and 94% o f those were
workers. See Anion Burghardt, Kirche und Arbeiterschaft," in Ferdinand Kloster
197
90. A m ere listing o f these would fill a small volume. I have found the following
books particularly suggestive. By far the analytically sharpest and speculatively most
original treatm ent o f Austromarxism is scattered throughout Rabinbachs Crisis,
passim and chs. 1-2, and supports the growing opinion that this is the most impor
tant political study o f Austrian socialism to appear since Gulicks work forty years
ago. At the non theoretical end o f the spectrum, the encyclopedic volume by Ernst
Glaser, Im Umfeld des Austromarxismus: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des sterrichischen
Sozialismus (Vienna, 1981), is an indispensable com pendium of every intellectual and
cultural figure in the German-speaking world who might in any way be associated
with Austromarxism. Even such nonsocialist moths as H erm ann Broch, Elias
Canetti, Alfred Adler, and Karl P opper are shown to be drawn to the Austromarxist
flame, giving weight to the latters fashionable modernity and attractiveness based
on the absence o f theoretical clarity. O th er useful works include: Kuhlmann, Beispiel
Austromarxismus, 3 1 -3 8 , 25 0 -5 2 , 25 6 -7 1 , and 3 8 0 -8 8; Tom Bottomore, Intro
duction, in Tom Bottomore and Patrick Goode, eds., Austro-Marxism (Oxford,
1978); Alfred Pfoser, Literatur und Austromarxismus (Vienna, 1980), 933; Raimund
Low, Siegfried Mattl, Alfred Pfabigan, Der Austromarxismus eine Autopsie: Drei Sta
dien (Frankfurt/M ain, 1986); and one o f the earliest studies, now quite unfairly rel
egated to the dustbin o f history, N orbert I.esers Zwischen Reformismus und Bolschevismus: Der Austromarxismus als Theorie und Praxis (Vienna, 1968), which, in the
conclusion especially, analyzes the myth o f unity in Austromarxism.
91. In the late 1970s a num ber o f E uropean socialist parties, while searching foi
programs that went beyond exhausted social democracy and would appeal to new
audiences, reported to have found a historical forebear in Austromarxism and par
ticularly in O tto Bauers third way. See, for instance, Giacomo Marramao, Austromarxismo e socialismo di sinistra fra le due guerre (Milan, 1978), and Jean-Pierre Chevenem ent, Les Socialistes, les communistes et les autres (Paris, 1977). The latter is echoed
in the official French Socialist party program: Projet socialiste pour la France des annees
8 0 (Paris, 1980). T here is no indication that any o f the European socialists flirting
with Austromarxism had a very clear idea o f what attracted them: a vague association
between the abortive Austrian factory councils and autogestion, or between the Vien
nese worker culture and "le gout tie xiivre"? The Kreuch so< ialists in power seem to
have settled for a mixture of social-democratic/liberal reforms and have kept theil
distance f rom any theoretical justification, Ausiromarxisi o r otherwise.
198
107. It is at the Caf Central that Trotsky met the Austromarxists. The postwar
Austromarxists, led by Bauer, made the Central their home away from home.
108. See Siegfried Mattl, Einleitung, in Lw, Mattl, Pfabigan, Autopsie, 5.
109. O n Friedrich Adler, see Braunthal, V. and F. Adler, chs. 17-19. O n the
councils o f 1 918-1919 and the revolutionary climate, see G ruber, Communism Era
o f Lenin, 175-81. For A dlers abortive attem pt to unify the socialist parties, see Julius
Braunthal, History o f the International (New York), 1967), II: chs. 911. Though Adler
was largely absent from the Austrian scene, he continued to play a role as a staunch
su p po rter o f O tto Bauer in his interpretation of Austromarxism as well as on purely
tactical questions.
110. But Renner was already an outsider in relation to the new so-called left
which gained prom inence in the SDAP during the war. At that time, Friedrich Adler
had attacked R enner for his patriotic position on the war, calling him the Leuger
o f social democracy.
111. See H anno Dreschler, Die Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands (SADP):
Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen Arbeiterbewegung am Ende der Weimarer Repub
lik (Meisenheim am Glan, 1965), 21-23.
112.1
apologize to those who enjoy a full presentation o f complicated ideas for
riding roughshod over philosophic elegances and even essences in my attem pt to
extract only those themes pertinent to the subject o f this book.
113. See Pfabigan, Adler, ch. 7, which has a section entitled Kant becomes a
social democrat. This chapter gives the best critical reading o f A dlers philosophical
Marxist excursions.
114. The following works o f Adler, in addition to Kausalitt, are particularly use
ful here: Die sozialistische Idee d er Befreiung, Der Kam pf 11 (1918); Der Sozial
ismus und die Intellektuellen (Vienna, 1910); Der soziologische Sinn der Lehre von Karl
Marx (Leipzig, 1914); and Kant und der Marxismus (Berlin, 1925).
115. Rabinbachs characterization o f the contradiction is telling: a permanent
tension between automatic and teleological laws o f history and the practical efforts
o f the hum an subject. In other words, a contradiction between preparatory cul
tural strategy and objective reality. Crisis, 12526.
I 16. See Hilferding, Finanzkapital (Berlin, 1955), I 74-75; Lichtheim, Marxism,
31 0-14 ; Bottomore, Austro-Marxism, 3334.
1 17. S e e Pfabigan, Max Adler, 3 14 - 2 3 .
I 18. Mattl suggests that the Ausl l omarxisl founders were intellectually old-fash
ioned in clinging to Ihe already outm oded nineteenth cenlm y philosophic ideas, and
200
that they were unfamiliar with the newest work in positivism, econometrics, and psy
choanalysis, all o f which were were very current in the Vienna o f their time. See Ein
leitung, in Lw, Mattl, Pfabigan, Autopsie, 7.
119. No do ubt Germ an culture was more developed than the others in the Dual
Monarchy. But the issue went beyond the question o f the quality of ideas. In the
Vienna o f 1914, with a 2.1 million population o f which non-Germans represented
more than a third, 1,475 German-language newspapers and periodicals were pub
lished as com pared to 60 in all other languages. Statistiches Jahrbuch der Stadt Wien
(Vienna, 1918), 32 (1914): 48283. By the outbreak o f World War I, R enners philoGermanism had tu rn ed into chauvinism. See Blum, Austro-Marxists, 172-74.
120. Crisis, 7.
121. Even as late as 1924, when Max Adler tried to provide the theoretical ju s
tification for the SDAP Bildung program already put into practice, he insisted that
education for the proletariat must come from the book and not from experience.
See Neue Menschen: Gedanken ber sozialisistische Erziehung (Berlin, 1924), 109-10.
Part o f the working-class culture being developed in Vienna, involving the largest
n um ber o f participants, had little or nothing to do with book learning (sports and
festivals, for instance).
122. See Kulmann, Austromarxismus, 3 4 -3 8 ; Bottomore, Austro-Marxism, 1 522; and P eter Heintel, System und Ideologie: Der Austromarxismus im Spiegel der Phi
losophie Max Adlers (Vienna, 1967), 15ff .
123. Hughes, Consciousness, 107-8.
124. For the following discussion of this key concept underlying the socialist cul
tural experiment, see especially the sophisticated analysis in Rabinbach, Crisis, 3 9 45, 6 0 -6 3 , 119-20. See also Bauer, sterreichische Revolution, 132-40, 175-84, 228,
259, 2 5 8-60 ; Bauer, Das Gleichgewicht d er Klassenkrfte, Der K am pf 17 (Jan.
1924): 5 7 -6 7 ; as well as Kulemann, Beispiel, 238 -4 2 , and Pfoser, Literatur, 18-21.
125. Particularly a balance o f classes leading to a pause in history. See Ruhe
pausen d e r Geschichte, Der Kam pf 3 (Sept. 1910), and Volksverm ehrungund sozi
ale Entwicklung, ibid., 7 (April 1914).
126. At virtually the same time Trotsky wrote about the contradictory relation
ship between culture and revolution. In Western Europe, he argued, the richer the
history o f the working class the more education, tradition, and accomplish
ments the more difficult it would be to gather it into a revolutionary unity, because
the privileges o f bourgeois democracy and freedoms would tie them to the bourgeois
order. Leon Trotsky, Fragen des Alltaglebens: Die Epoche der Kulturarbeit und ihre
Aufgaben (Hamburg, 1923), 24.
127. The inheritor party role, to which the SDAP subscribed, hewed to the
orthodox Marxist evolutionary position that in some dim future when the bo ur
geoisie would be unable to rule, social democracy would assume power with a min
imum o f resistance. See Peter Nettl, The G erm an Social Democratic Party as a
Political Model, 1 8 9 0 -1 9 14 , Past and Present 30 (1965): 67.
128. Lowenberg calls Bauers ambivalence and doubt leading to the avoidance
o f decisions and actions obsessing. See Decoding, 181. Bauers cultural optimism
and political immobility were sustained in the SDAP by conceptions o f loyalty
which, by reducing criticism to a ritual, foreclosed inner-party democracy. See
Leser, Zwischen, 350-51.
129. Dieter G roh, Negative Integration und revolutionrer Attentismus: Die deutsche
Sozialdemokratie am Vorabend des Ersten Weltkrieges (Frankfurt/M ain, 1973). G roh s
characterization o f German prewar social democracy is well suited to (he postwar
SDAP, espec ially its subslilulion ol Bildung fin political action.
201
130. See Adler, Neue Menschen, 2 2 -2 4 , 92, 109, and Pfabigan, Adler, 198-213.
131. Hans Kelsen, Dr. O tto Bauers politische Theorie, Der Kam pf 17 (Feb.
1924): 50 -5 6 . Kelsen put his finger on a major weakness in the Bauerian Austromarxist formulation adopted by the SDAP: its lack o f influence in the workplace,
where the trade unions were largely ineffectual.
132. O tto Leichter, Zum Problem d er sozialen Gleichgewichtzustnde, Der
Kam pf 17 (May 1924): 184.
133. See Das Linzer Program m d er Sozialdemokratischen Arbeiterpartei
sterreichs, 1926, in Albert Kadan and Anton Pelinka, eds., Die Grundsatzpro
gramme der sterreichischen Parteien: Dokumentation und Analyse (Vienna, 1979), 8 1 88, for the social and cultural program. See also Gulick, Austria, II: 1389-1400.
134. It was the most im portant right-wing paramilitary organization, initially
organized in 1 918-19 to defend the as-yet-undetermined Austrian borders. It
became the param ount provincial armed force poised against Vienna during the
republic. It was supported by big business and finance, large landowners such as
Ernst Rdiger Stahrenberg, Catholic political leaders like Seipel, Dollfuss, and
Schuschnigg, Catholic priests, petty bourgeois, and peasants. It was strongly m on
archist and used force and te rro r to oppose socialism and any idea o r act contrary
to Catholic teaching. As the principal exponent o f Austrofascism before 1934, it was
overtaken by the Nazi SA after 1930. See Bruce F. Pauley, Hahnenschwanz und Hack
enkreuz: Steirischer Heimatschutz und sterreichischer Nationalsozialismus (Vienna,
1972), and C. Earl Edmondson, The Heimwehr and, Austrian Politics, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 6 (Ath
ens, Ga., 1978).
135. Point III o f the program entitled The Struggle for Control o f the State.
Das Linzer Programm, 78-81.
136. Adler had been a m em ber o f the program committee. See Dreschler, Sozial
istische Arbeiterpartei, 30 -3 2. For Adlers position as well as his intervention in the
debates, see Protokoll des sozialdemokratischen Parteitages, 1 92 6 (Vienna, 1926), 19 9200, 286, 292, and 3 1 0 -1 4 , and Leser, Zwischen, 3 8 2 -9 8 , for the debates in general.
The congress accepted the program unanimously.
137. Protokoll, 1926, 272.
138. In reading Das Programm d er Christlichsozialen Partei, 1926 one gets
the impression that open confrontation was not so unexpected in the opposition
camp. Kadan and Pelinka, eds., Grundsatzprogramme, 115-16. The program takes as
its guidelines the principles o f Christianity, that is, the ethics and morals o f the Cath
olic church. It decisively rejects every attem pt to create the dictatorship o f a class,
dem ands the cultivation o f German behavior, and combats the predominance o f
the dem oralizingjewish influence on intellectual and economic life.
139. For the events surrounding July 15 and its implications, see G erhard Botz,
Die Ereignisse des 15. Ju li 1927: Protokoll des Symposiums in Wien am 15 Juni 1977
(Vienna, 1979), 17-59; Botz, Gewalt, 141-60; Rabinbach, Crisis, 3 2 -3 4 , 4 8-50 ;
O tto Leichter, Glanz und Elend der Ersten Republik: Wie es zum sterreichische Br
gerkrieg kam (Vienna, 1964), 4 5 -6 8 ; Leser, Zwischen, 199-428; Gulick, Austria, I:
71 7-71 ; Pfoser, Literatur, 24-26.
140. Botz, Gewalt, 144. Aside from the inflammatory article by Friedrich Aus
terlitz, editor-in-chief o f Die Arbeiter-Zeitung, no socialist leader o r trade union offi
cial o r Schutzbund functionary gave the workers any guidance or leadership during
the crucial hours before the outbreak o f violence. Only when the Palace o f Justice
was already on fire and the workers prevented the fire trucks from getting through,
did Mayor Seitz intervene to secure a passage for the vehii les.
I I I . Foi a o n e - s i d e d d e f e n s e of S e i p e l s a c tio n s, ec K l e m p c r e i , Seipel, 2 6 2 6 9
202
142. See Frei, Rotes Wien, 60, and Gulick, Austria, I: 712-13.
143. See Protokoll des sozialdemokratischen Parteitages, 1927 (Vienna, 1927), 13811.
144. See Alfred Pfabigan, Revolutionrer Geist: Max Adler (1873-1937) und
d er Austromarxismus, Archiv: Jahrbuch des Vereins f r Geschichte der Arbeiterbewe
gung 3 (1987): 6 1 -6 2 . Adlers attack on the party caused a scandal. H enceforth he
was isolated in the party, was no longer delegated to congresses, and had difficulty
being published in Austria. As a result, his activity shifted more to Berlin.
145. Cited by Pfoser, Literatur, 25.
146. Gulick, Austria, 1:71771. He concludes this chapter with the thought that
Austrian labor and democracy had begun the slow descent to defeat.
147. That such absolute loyalty to the idol of unity could no longer be relied on
is exposed in Rabinbachs Crisis, where the ultimately ineffectual opposition to
Bauer from the partys left is the major theme.
148. That the S1)AP succeeded in receiving 59 percent o f the vote in Viennese
municipal elections to the very end o f the republic suggests that the voter confidence
o f the workers continued to be strong despite the setback o f July 15.
C h a p te r 3
1. When the socialist mayor Jakob Reum ann assumed olfice in May 1919, he
promised no less than a quantitive and qualitative improvement in the social net and
asserted that the well-to-do would have to shoulder a large part o f the cost. Arbeiter
zeitu ng, May 23, 1919, cited in Franz Patzer, Streiflichter a u f die Wiener Kom m unal
politik, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1978), 11-12.
2. See Julius Bunzel, Der Wohnungsmarkt und die Wohnungspolitik, in Julius
Bunzel, Beitrge zur stdtischen Wohn- und Siedelwirtschaft: III. Wohnungsfragen in
sterreich (Leipzig, 1930), 107; Felix Czeike, Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik der Geimeitule Wien, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1959), 16-17. The reader is alerted to the fact
that the numerical figures and related statistics on virtually all aspects o f municipal
socialism vary, at times considerably. This is due in large part to the use of diff erent
statistical yearbooks with varying systems o f notation to provide comparative and
long-range information. I will indicate those instances where the differences become
significant.
3. The soundest analysis o f socialist communal policies is still to be found in Rai
n er Baubck, Wohnungspolitik im sozialdemokratischen Wien, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 4 (Salzburg,
1979), and Maren Seliger, Sozialdemokratie und Kommunalpolitik in Wien: Zu einigen
Aspekten sozialdemokratischer Politik in der Vor- und Zwischenkiriegszeit (Vienna, 1980).
4. Czeike, Wirtschafts/Sozialpolitik, 55 -5 6 .
5. For the origins and development o f the concept o f ordentliche Arbeiterfa
milie, see Joseph Ehmer, Familie und Klasse: Zur Entstehung der Arbeiterfamilie
in Wien, in Michael M itterauer and Reinhard Sieder, eds., Historische Familienfor
schung (Frankfurt/M ain, 1982).
6. See Karl Sablik, Julius Tandler: M ediziner und Sozialreformer (Vienna, 1983),
70 -7 4. Environmentalism also led the socialists to embrace the ego psychology o f
Alfred Adler, with its promise o f personality restructuring, in preference to the more
pessimistic psychoanalysis o f Siegmund F'reud.
7. T h a t i n c l u d e s s o m e 3 , 6 0 4 d w e llin g s c r e a t e d with m o r t g a g e f u n d s b e t w e e n
1 9 1 9 a n d 1 9 2 3 ( b e f o r e t h e first in n o v a t i v e h o u s i n g p r o g r a m b a s e d o n a n e w sy ste m
o f t a x a t io n ) , as well as t h o s e still u n d e r c o n s t r u c t i o n in 1 934. S e e C h a r l e s A. Gulick,
A ustria: From 1labslturg to H itler (B erk eley, Calif., 19 4 8 ), I: 4 3 4 , 4 5 0 . B a u h c k , W ohn-
203
ungspolitik, 152, gives a total o f 63,071 domiciles built, and o ther sources fluctuate
by as much as 3,000 for reasons not discernable.
8. The new municipal housing accounted for 10.4% of all Viennese housing in
1934. Density o f domicile occupation had declined from 4.14 in 1910 to 3.03 in
1934. Baubck, Wohnungspolitik, 152.
9. See Karl Honay, A ufbauarbeit in Krisenzeiten. Der Wiener Stadthaushalt im
Ja h re 1932, Der Sozialdemokrat 1 (1932): 6 -8 . For similar self-congratulation, see
Robert D anneberg, Zehn Jahre Neues Wien (Vienna, 1929), 50-56 . Both were mem
bers o f the city council.
10. Baubck, Wohnungspolitik, 154, and Kthe Leichter, So leben w ir . . . 1320
Industrie-arbeiterinnen berichten ber ihr Leben (Vienna, 1932), 84.
11. For examples, see Klaus Novy, Der Wiener Gemeindewohnungsbau:
Sozialisierung von u n te n , ARCH: Zeitschrift fr Architekten, Sozialarbeiter und kom
munalpolitische (Wuppen 45 (July 1979); Hans H autm ann and Rudolf H autm ann,
H ubert Gessner und das Konzept des Volkswohnungspalasts, Austriaca: Cahiers
universitaires d information sur l Autriche 12 (May 1981); Wolfgang Speiser, Paul
Speiser und das rote Wien (Munich, 1979), 5 0 -5 2 ; and Hans H autm ann and Rudolf
Kropf, Die sterreichische Arbeiterbewegung vom Vormrz bis 1945 (Vienna, 1974), 14648. A refreshing contrast to the tendency to heroize and celebrate a mythic socialist
Vienna is Helmut W eihsm anns Das Rote Wien: Sozialdemokratische Architektur und
Kommunalpolitik, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1985).
12. Bunzel, W ohnungsm arkt/W ohnungspolitik, lists 9,720 such accommo
dations still existing in 1923 (109-10). H e also indicates that in 1919 16.9% o f all
apartm ents still harb o red subtenants and bed renters (107).
13. See J. Robert Wegs, Growing Up Working Class: Continuity and Change Among
Viennese Youth, 1 8 9 0 -1 9 3 8 (Pennsylvania, 1989), 39 -4 2 ; Peter Feldbauer, Stadt
wachstum und Wohnungsnot: Determinanten unzureichender Wohnungsversorgung in
Wien, 1 8 4 8 -1 9 1 4 (Vienna, 1977), 202-4.
14. For previous tenant insecurity, the power o f landlords, and tenant nom ad
ism, see Michael Jo h n , Hausherrenmacht und Mieterelend: Wohnverhltnisse und Wohnerfahrung der Unterschichten in Wien, 1 8 9 0 -1 9 2 3 (Vienna, 1982), 2967.
15. Czeike, Wirtschafts/Sozialpolitik, 16-17.
16. See Wilfred Posch, Die Wiener Gartenstadt Bewegung: Reformversuch zwischen
Erster und Zweiter Grnderzeit (Vienna, 1981), and Klaus Novy, Selbsthilfe als
Reformbewegung: Der K ampf der Wiener Siedler nach dem 1. Weltkrieg, ARCH
55 (March 1981).
17. Czeike, Wirtschafts/Sozialpolitik, 3031.
18. See Baubck, Wohnungspolitik, 9199; Seliger, Sozialdemokratie und Kommun
alpolitik, 9 9 -1 02 ; Czeike, Wirtschafts/Sozialpolitik, 7 8 -8 3 , 89-90 .
19. See Alfred G eorg Frei, Rotes Wien: Austromarxismus und Arbeiterkultur
Sozialdemokratische Wohnungs- und Kommunalpolitik, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 4 (Berlin, 1984), 8 3 84.
20. Czeike, Wirtschafts/Sozialpolitik, 3 9-41 ; Baubck, Wohnungspolitik, 123-38;
Seliger, Sozialdemokratie/Kommunalpolitik, 115-36; Frei, Rotes Wien, 8384; Gulick,
Austria, I: 44959.
21. The right-wing press went into a frenzy over this tax, calling it pure expro
priation. Breitner was smeared with anti-Semitic slurs, to which the SDAP failed to
respond forcefully. Ironically, even the wealthiest tenants were the beneficiaries o f
the rent-control law and, despite the allegedly unbearable lax, paid no more than
37% of prewar rents. Czeike, Wirlscha/ls/Soiialpolitik, 40.
204
22. At the time the socialist press made much o f the champagne and caviar, race
horses and sports cars o f the rich being taxed for the benefit of the Viennese little
m an. They neglected to mention that even the little m ans entertainm ent, especially
admissions to cinema, Variet, circus, and football matches were somehow also clas
sified as luxuries.
23. See Adelheid von Saldern, Sozialdemokratie und kommunale Wohnungs
baupolitik in den 20er Ja h re n am Beispiel von H am burg und Wien, Archiv f r
Sozialgeschichte 25 (1985): 195-97. Von Saldern uses 1925 as a sample year to indi
cate that the housing tax brought in 23% and luxury taxes 20% o f the budget for the
building fund. I would increase this income by 10-15% for the years through 1929.
Czeike points out that part o f the compromise by which the rent-control law was
weakened in 1929 included specific federal subvention o f Viennese housing projects
u n d er construction. In all likelihood this assistance was marginal. See Czeike, Wirt
schafts/Sozialpolitik, 44, 91.
24. The Christian Socials applied pressure in parliament against rent control in
1925 in o rd er to defeat the renewal of the housing requisitioning law as part o f a
compromise. For this and oth er attacks on rent control and the housing program,
see the detailed presentation in Gulick, Austria, I: 466-503.
25. Seliger, Sozialdemokratie und Kommunalpolitik, 137-39.
26. Baubck, Wohnungspolitik, 108-14.
27. Peter Feldbauer and Wolfgang Hsl, Die Wohnungsverhaltnisse der Wie
n er Unterschichten und die Anfnge des genossenschaftlichen Wohn- und Sied
lungswesens, in G erhard Botz, Hans H autm ann, Helmut Konrad, Joseph Weiden
holzer, eds., Bewegung und Klasse: Studien zur sterreichischen Arbeitergeschichte
(Vienna, 1978), 6 9 0 -9 1 . This plan o f E. H. Aigde was rejected by conservative indus
trialists who feared that such concentrated housing would lead to worker solidarity
and radicalism.
28. Feldbauer and Hsl, Wohnungsverhltnisse, 698-99.
29. See the excellent textual and photographic presentation o f the historical
precedents o f communal housing in Vienna in Weihsmann, Rote Wien, 67 -9 9 .
30. See O tto Bauer, Der Weg zum Sozialismus (Vienna, 1919), 116-21, for the
following.
31. See the photo essay in the exhibition catalog M it uns zieht die neue Zeit: Arbei
terkultur in sterreich, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1981), 70-72. The myth, created by
SDAP spokesmen in the 1920s, that the cost o f the building program was borne by
the rich paying the housing tax, is repeated there (68).
32. See Michael Jo h n , The Im portance o f N eighborhood Relationships and
Grass Roots Movements in Red Vienna, 19 1 9 -1 93 4 , 8, 13. Unpublished paper
available at the Verein fr Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung, Vienna. Jo h n col
lected some forty histories; Reinhard Sieder more than sixty; and Gottfried Pirhofer
and Peter Feldbauer considerable additional ones. Most are available on tape and
typed transcription at the Institut fr Wirtschafts- u n d Sozialgeschichte o f the Uni
versity of Vienna.
33. See Franz Patzer, Zeittafel smtlicher Sitzungen des Wiener Gemeinderates
von 1918 bis 1934 mit den wichtigsten V erhandlungspunkten, wie Kundgebungen,
Wahlen, Beschlsse, Anfragen, Antrgen, usw., Streiflichter a u f die Wiener Kommun
alpolitik, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1978), 61-1 2 3.
34. The argument, for instance, dial the ulterior motive of the socialist building
program was to p repare strategically for c ivil war, was repeated ad nauseam. Ibid.,
46.
205
206
50. In view o f the 68,858 persons seeking apartments in 1924, the first building
program did little to alleviate the crisis. See Czeike, Wirtschafts/Sozialpolitik, 17. Not
all o f the apartm ent hunters needed a new o r diff erent apartment. In many instances
upgrading o f existing habitations would have been acceptable.
51. Such exaggerations are prevalent even am ong some younger Austrian his
torians. See for instance Michael Jo hn , Hausherrenmacht und Mieterelend, 1 8 9 0 -1 9 2 3
(Vienna, 1982). O ne leafs with fascination through the photographs in this book,
which illustrate only the most decrepit habitations and surroundings.
52. See Wegs, Growing Up Working Class, 25-27 .
53. For brief periods I have lived in two such form er tenements: in the 20th dis
trict in 1938-39 and in the 5th district in 1981. Both had a living room /kitchen,
bedroom , and a half room; both (originally) did not have a toilet, running water, or
gas. I would ju d g e the total space in both to be 50m2 (540 ft2). The ceilings were 3m
(10 ft) high and therefore gave a larger aspect to the rooms than their size would
suggest. In both apartments the kitchens faced a long interior building corridor but
had a window as well. In that corridor a water tap (Basena) and a toilet had served all
the apartments. The stairwells and corridors were wide and commodious. These
examples are not m eant to ennoble the far-from-ideal quality o f the tenements but
simply to indicate that the quality o f such housing conformed to a wide spectrum. I
would ju d g e that 25% o f such tenements were barely habitable; that 50% were just
adequate, considering the quality o f cheaper housing in Vienna in general; and that
25% were livable and even desirable as interior domicile and exterior structure.
54. See for example Anton Weber, Die Wohnungsprobleme und die Gemeinde Wien
(Vienna, 1927), and Die wohnungspolitik der Gemeinde Wien (Vienna, 1929). In addi
tion, num erous pamphlets rolled off the SDAP printing presses on the accomplish
ments o f the socialist municipality, with housing in the forefront. The formula of
presentation was quite simple: b efore/after, decaying/blooming, ugly/beautiful, suf
fering/rejuvenated, etc. Robert Danneberg, the party secretary, usually signed these
achievement reports.
55. In the hopeless postwar real estate market, housing stock as well as land was
a glut on the market. Landlords were happy to be rid o f their unprofitable houses at
one-quarter o f their prewar prices. See Fritz C. Wulz, Stadt in Vernderung: Eine
architektur-politische Studie von Wien inden Jahren 1 8 4 8 -1 9 3 4 (Stockholm, 1978), II:
439. It would have been possible for the municipality to acquire such tenements at
very low cost and to improve the apartm ents by introducing electricity, water, and
gas. W hether a p art o f the building funds invested in such renovation would have
improved the housing o f a larger num ber than could be satisfied by only new con
struction was never examined by the SDAP.
56. By 1928 the municipality owned 25% o f the total Viennese land surface, and
by 1933 over 30%. Ibid., II: 438; Baubck, Wohnungspolitik, 14-43; Weihsmann,
Rote Wien, 63, n. 46; Gulick, Austria, I: 457.
57. See Bunzel, W ohnungsmarkt, 128.
58. Seliger, Sozialdemokratie und Kommunalpolitik, 137-38.
59. See Leo Adler, ed., Neuzeitliche Miethuser und Siedlungen (Leipzig, 1931),
with detailed photographs and drawings o f postwar architecture in Berlin and H am
burg as well as in Holland and Sweden. Von Saldern points out that between 1924
and 1930 Germany became the international center of the new architecture style.
It was well received by the Socialist party, which sponsored il in public buildings and
housing in H amburg, Frankfurt, Berlin, Stuttgart, and o th er cities. See Sozialde
mokratie kommunale W ohmmgsbaupolilik," 208-9. For the positive response of
207
the French Popular Front government to functionalist architecture, see Jean-1, ouis
Cohen, Architectures du F ront populaire, Le Mouvement Social 46 (Jan.-March
1989): 4 9 -5 9 .
60. The publication o f an exhibit, Rotes Wien, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 4 : Kommunaler Wohnbau
in der Zwischenkiregszeit (Vienna, 1980-84), is accompanied by an excellent slide p ro
gram (available at all Austrian cultural institutes) which highlights the traditional
adherence o f the municipal housing o f red Vienna to the basic Viennese courtyard
construction o f both public and private buildings, as well as illustrating the hodge
podge o f styles in structures and exterior decorations.
61. See Adelheid von Saldern, Die Neubausiedlungen d er Zwanziger Ja h re , in
Ulfert Herlyn, Adelheid von Saldern, Wulf Tessin, eds., Neubausiedlungen der 20er
und 60er Jahre (Frankfurt/M ain, 1987), 39-41.
62. Novy, Wiener Gem eindewohnungsbau, 17-18; Baubck, 145-48. Unlike
m ore sophisticated crafts, it was argued, bricklaying could be learned by the inex
perienced with relative ease.
63. See Barbara M. Lane, Architecture and Politics in Germany, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 4 5 (Cam
bridge, Mass., 1968), 83-1 0 7 .
64. See Ferdinand and Lore Kramer, Sozialer W ohnbau d er Stadt Frankfurt
am Main in den 20er Ja h re n , Ausstellung Kommunaler Wohnbau in Wien (Vienna,
1978). Despite the use o f rationalized materials and methods in Frankfurt and other
Germ an cities, the expected savings in building costs and low rents were not realized,
because mortgage rates were so high. The Viennese public housing was financed
without mortgages.
65. In Frankfurt it took five years to build new housing for 11% o f the popula
tion; in Vienna it took ten years to accommodate somewhat fewer people. See ibid.
66. See von Saldern, Sozialdemokratie kommunale Wohnungsbaupolitik,
198.
67. Lane, Architecture, 103.
68. The ten largest projects, which I have inspected, contained 11,570 apart
ments: Sandleitn Hof, 1,587; Engelshof, 1,467; Karl-Marx-Hof, 1,325; Karl-SeitzHof, 1,273; Mithlingerhof, 1,136; Rabenhof, 1,109; George-Washington-Hof,
1,084; Siedlung Freihof, 1,014; Am Laaer Berg, 846; Wildganshof, 829. These were
located in districts with existing concentrations o f workers: the 3rd, 10th, 12th, 16th,
19th, 20th, and 21st.
69. For the particulars o f municipal buildings as well as individual habitations
and communal facilities, see Czeike, Wirtschaft/Sozialpolitik, 5 9-78 ; Weihsmann,
Rote Wien, 9 2 -3 6 9 (a detailed walking tour through the city, stopping at each munic
ipal project for a detailed discussion); and Hans H autm ann and Rudolf H autm ann,
Die Gemeindebauten des Roten Wien, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1980), passim.
70. See for instance Richard Wagner, Der Klassenkampf um den Menschen (Berlin,
1927); Robert Danneberg, Das neue Wien (Vienna, 1930); Karl Honay, Sozialis
tische Arbeit in d er kapitalistischen Gesellschaft, Der K am pf 5 (1929). See also the
latter-day sympathizers: Gulick, Austria, I: 50 3 -4 ; Austeilung Kommunaler Wohnbau
in Wien (Vienna, 1977).
71. See Reinhard Sieder, Housing Policy, Social Welfare and Family Life in
Red Vienna, 19 19 -1 9 34 , Oral History: Journal o f the Oral History Society 13:2
(1985): 35 -4 8 .
72. See Lane, Architecture, 103-14; von Saldern, Sozialdemokratie und W ohn
ungsbaupolitik, 22230; Das Wohnungswesen der Stadt Frankfurt A.M. (Frankfurt/
Main, 1930). But with the onset o f the depression, the size was reduced to 30 to 50
208
square meters. Even so, rents in German public housing were beyond the means of
the average worker family, because 60-70% o f it was due to high mortgages. Such
apartm ents were within the means o f skilled workers, employees, and functionaries.
See von Saldern, N eubausiedlungen, 3 3 -3 7 , 53.
73. Between 1926 and 1930 ten thousand new apartments in Frankfurt were
equipped with these kitchens. See Margarete Schtte-Lihotzky, VienneFrancfort:
Construction de logements et rationalisation des travaux domestiques, Austriaca:
Cahiers universitaires (informations u r d Autriche 12 (May 1981), 129-38.
74. These are best enum erated and illustrated in H autm ann and Hautm ann,
H ubert Gessner, 1 18-19, and the photographs in idem., Gemeindebauten.
75. H autm ann and Hautm ann, H ubert Gessner, 118, list 33 central laundries
with a total o f 830 workplaces. That allows for 302,950 washdays for 63,000 tenants
o r 4.8 washdays p er tenant per year. Sieder, Housing Policy, 1011, cites
5,032,847 baths taken in municipal bathhouses (other than the three in the projects)
as a sign o f increased cleanliness. But even a conservative estimate o f use works out
to one bath in two weeks per person.
76. For the negative reaction of tenants to the communal facilities, see Dieter
I.angewiesche, Politische O rientierung und soziales Verhalten: Familienleben und
Wohnverhltnisse von Arbeitern im ro te n Wien d e r Ersten Republik, in Lutz Nie
thammer, ed., Wohnen im Wandel: Beitrge zu r Geschichte des Alltags in der brgerlichen
Gesellschaft (Wuppertal, 1979), 183-85.
77. Weihsmann, Rote Wien, 63, n. 61.
78. It was often young couples with one o r two children who were able to leave
the overcrowded quarters o f parents o r in-laws. In general they had waited from four
to eight years before being selected by the housing office. See Sieder, Housing Pol
icy, 6 -9 .
79. See Dr. Ph. Vass, Die Wiener Wohnungswirtschaft von 1917 bis 19 2 7 (Jena,
1928), 38-39 .
80. Das neue Wien: Stdtewerk (Vienna, 1926), I: 235. Those residing in Vienna
since birth received four points. Single persons and couples married less than a year
could not get into the first group o f needy, even if their points totaled ten.
81. The Austrian Communist party (KP) criticized the SDAP and the whole
municipal reform program for having abandoned the weakest portion o f the work
ing class: the unemployed, those on relief, the homeless and evicted. See for instance
KP, Waldhotel: Die Geschichte einer Delogierung im sozialdemokratischen Wien
(Vienna, 1931). The attack was too vehement for the points made, but eviction had
increasingly become a problem after 1929, when the Christian Socials, using implicit
threats of violence, forced the SDAP to agree to a certain weakening o f the rentcontrol law.
82. Nearby shops and Gasthuser were also im portant sites o f spontaneous social
ization. See Jo h n , Im portance o f N eighborhood Relationships, 3 -6.
83. See John, H ausherrenm acht, 108-16, and Anhang: Interview mit H errn
Merinsky O ttokar, 18., Hildebrandgasse 21, am 3.7. 1981 ; Gottfried Pirhofer and
Reinhard Sieder, Zur Konstitution d er Arbeiterfamilie im Roten Wien: Familien
politik, Kulturreform, Alltag und sthetik, in Michael Mitterauer and Reinhard
Sieder, ed., Familienforschung (Vienna, 1982), 351 -57 ; Wegs, Crowning Up Working
Class, 47-5 1.
84. Reinhard Sieder, Working-Class Family Life in Wartime Vienna, in Rich
ard Wall and Jay Winter, eds., The Upheaval of War: Family, Work and Welfare in
Europe, 19 1 4 -I 9 I N (Cambridge, 1988), 126.
209
85. See Gottfried Pirhofer, Ansichten zum Wiener kommunalen Wohnbau der
zwanziger und frhen dreissiger Jahre, in Helmut Fielhauer and O laf Bockhorn,
eds., Die andere Kultur: Volkskunde, Sozialwissenschaften und Arbeiterkultur: Ein
Tagungsbericht (Vienna, 1982), 237-38.
86. Pirhofer and Sieder, Konstitution der Arbeiterfamilie, 354.
87. As we shall see in the discussion o f the family in Ch. 6, every eff ort was made
by the administration o f the municipal houses to wean the workers away from their
fo rm er habits and life-styles: women were told to become active in the party culture
outside the home; local party meetings were removed from the neighborhood Gas
thaus to the project meeting rooms; children were discouraged from both free play
on the project grounds and street play; and various pressures were exerted to p ro
duce new norms o f cleanliness, public behavior, and housekeeping.
88. G ottfried Pirhofer and Reinhard Sieder, Familie und W ohnen im Roten
Wien, in International C onference o f L abour Historians, ITH-Tagungsbericht 16
(Vienna, 1981), 190-91.
89. Pirhofer and Sieder, Arbeiterfamilie, 351-57. The feeling o f pressure
from the building management, complaints about the strict regimentation, and the
desire to escape from the controls o f municipal housing are a constant refrain in
virtually all oral history accounts.
90. T here were complaints in the anarchist press that tenants who protested
about the housing management were threatened with eviction. See Das rote Para
dies in Wien: Ein offener Brief b er sozialdemokratische Auslandslgen, Erkennt
nis und Befreiung: Organ des Herrschaftslosen Sozialismus 1 1:49 (1929): 3.
91. A rare find in the SDAP archives is an exchange of letters between a loyal
SDAP and trade union m em ber and the party executive. The member, Aegidius
P inker, complained that the district party representative had overturned the election
o f tenants representatives twice, because the official candidate had been rejected by
the community tenants. Some twenty members o f the Schutzbund present but out
o f uniform (and not from the district) threatened to break up the meeting. When
Finker and others present expressed outrage at the behavior o f the SDAP represen
tatives, they were threatened with loss o f their jobs and informed that they were p er
manently unqualified for apartm ents in the new municipal housing. Pinker minced
no words in charging the city council with donating 6 0 -7 0 percent o f all municipal
housing to their favorites. The SDAPs reply dismissed Finkers charges by instruct
ing him to make his complaint to the appropriate party organ. It further informed
him that the party was engaged in removing corrupt tenants representatives, a task
in which it would not be hindered. See Aegidius Finker, An den Parteivorstand der
S.D.A.P., Wien, March 14, 1928, and H errn Aegidius Finker, March 22, 1928,
Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv Wien (AVA), SD-Parteistellen, Karton 93.
92. The most com mon complaint was about the arbitrary behavior o f SDAP cad
res in acting like a police force in the housing projects, and about their tendency to
monopolize and dom inate tenants meetings, preventing complaints from being
aired. See Prolet im, Gemeindebau: Selbsthilfsorgan der Mieter des Schummeierhofes und
Umgebung, Dec. 1930 and Jan. 1931; Das Alsergrunder Arbeiterblatt, Jan. 1929; Pro
letarierviertel: Huserzeitung der Mieter von Hernals oberhalb der Wattgasse, Oct. 1932;
Der Rote Sandleitner Prolet, Jan. 1933.
93. T here is nothing vaguely socialist about calling for experts to improve the
quality and management o f families and child rearing. I .iheral reform ers and statist
interventionists have made such <.ills for over a century, anil these demands have by
now been largely satisfied. See Christopher I .as h, llaven in a Heartless World: The
2 1 0
Family Besieged, (New York, 1976). In the SDAP, the first o rd er o f experts were the
functionaries themselves. See Kuhlemann, Beispiel Marxismus, 313-24.
94. A celebratory parade initiated by the tenants on the eve o f the official open
ing o f the Karl-Marx-Hof was not perm itted to take place. See Frei, Rotes Wien, 11016.
95. See Langewiesche, Politische O rientierung, 175, where he reports the tri
umphal speech o f a leading Austrian socialist at an SPD meeting in W rzburg in
1933. The speaker clamined that the world-renowned municipal housing had
been paid for with the building tax alone.
96. See von Saldern, Sozialdemokratie kommunale Wohnungspolitik, 19499; F. and L. Kramer, Sozialer W ohnbau F rankfurt ; Weihsmann, Rote Wien, 1 5965; Marc Bonneville, Villeurbanne: naissante et mtamorphose d une banlieue ouvrire
(Lyon, 1978); Jean-Paul Flammand, Loger le peuple: essai sur l histoire du logement
social en France (Paris, 1989), ch. 3; Annie Fourcaut, Bobigny: banlieue rouge (Paris,
1986),ch. 4 ;Jo h n Burnett, A Social History o f Housing, 1 8 1 5 -1 9 8 5 (London, 1986),
2 34 -4 7 ; and Sean Glynn and Jo h n Oxborrow, lnterwar Britain: A Social and Economic
History (London, 1976), ch. 8. The point made here is that these attempts to provide
public housing were not free of problems o f various sorts or necessarily better than
what the SDAP accomplished, but that the Viennese housing program was only one
example o f such social democratic reform efforts.
97. That these massive structures were indeed fortresses created by the socialists
to protect their worker denizens in case o f civil war was a popular charge among
Christian Social critics of the municipal housing program. The fragility o f these
brick-and-mortar buildings, dem onstrated by the destruction inllicted on them even
by the World War I artillery o f Dollfuss in 1934, should have put these allegations
to rest, but they linger on even in the work o f otherwise sound historians. For the
refutation o f the red fortress theory, see G erhard Kapner, Der Wiener kom
munale Wohnbau: Urteilen d er Zwischen- u nd Nachkriegszeit, in Franz
Kadrnoska, ed., Aufbruch und Untergang: sterreichische K ultur zwischen 1918 und
1938 (Vienna, 1981), passim, but especially 149-59.
98. It has been suggested that the municipal housing projects were enclaves on
the citys periphery, leaving the urban power center untouched; that instead o f cre
ating a new ring or proletarian belt o f housing near the city center, the municipal
socialists opted for a defensive position from the outset. See G ottfried Pirhofer and
Michael Tripes, Am Schpfwerk neu Bewohnt: Ungewohntes vom Wiener Gemeindebau
(Vienna, 1981), 2 2 -2 5 , 35 -3 6 . For the danger o f the SDAPs confusing cultural with
political power, see Anton Pelinka, Kommunalpolitik als Gegenmacht: Das rote
Wien als Beispiel gesellschaftsverndernder Reformpolitik, in K.-H. Nassmacher,
Kommunalpolitik und Sozialdemokratie: Der Beitrag des demokratischen Sozialismus zur
kommunalen Selbstverwaltung (Bonn, 1977), 63-77.
9 9 .1
am greatful to Peter Marcuse for having drawn my attention to this gestaltist
perspective. See his article The H ousing Policy o f Social Democracy: Determinants
and Consequences, in Rabinbach, ed., Austrian Experiment, 212-13.
100. See Gottfried Pirhofer, Wirtschaftspolitik, and Politikm K rper, Aus
stellungskatalog Zwischenkriegszeit Wiener Kommunalpolitik, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 8 (Vienna,
1980), 21, 65 -6 7 .
101. U nfortunately the one detailed biography Karl Sablik , Julius Tandler:
Mediziner und Sozialreformer: Fine Biography (Vienna, 1983) although generally
informative, lacks any real insight into T andlers social Darwinist and eugenic ori
entation on the population question." Sablik also fails to appreciate the consider
211
able courage with which T andler faced the virulent and rampant anti-Semitism in
the medical faculty and also am ong his Christian Social colleagues on the municipal
council, where he stood his ground against infamous slander without concerted or
decisive support from his own parly.
102. See Czeike, Wirtschafts/Sozialpolitik, 159-65. This remains the best source
on the detailed aspects o f health and welfare programs, their organization, extent,
cost, and accomplishments (153-211). It should be used in conjunction with Patzer,
Streiflichter, which provides both a chronological and subject index o f issues before
the municipal council, for which protocols can be found. Also informative on the
specifics o f health and welfare programs, but not very analytical, is Gulick, Austria,
I: 505-43.
103. Julius Tandler, Gemeinde und Gesundheitswesen, Die Gemeinde: Halbmonatschrift fr sozialdemokratische Kommunalpolitik 8 (1920): 165-69.
104. See Julius Tandler, Wohlttigkeit oder Frsorge? (Vienna, 1925). An excerpt
o f this pam phlet is reprinted in Junius, Sozialismus und persnliche Lebensgestaltung:
Texte aus der Zwischenkriegszeit (Vienna, 1981), 123-25, with a discussion o f socialist
caritas, which was not charity but spontaneous welfare actions not sponsored by the
municipality but by workers for workers at the grass roots and by initiatives from
below (122).
105. See Franz Karner, Aufbau der Wohlfahrtspflege der Stadt Wien (Vienna, 1926).
106. Das neue Wien: Stdtewerk, I: 60 2 -5 . The official rep o rt credits the educa
tion o f m others to breast feeding and rational infant care fo r the sharp decline in
infants deaths.
107. O f some 10,000 first-grade schoolchildren tested for tuberculosis in 192526, 39 percent o f the boys and 31 percent o f the girls were positive. See Wegs, Grow
ing Up Working Class, 19.
108. For the following, see H erm ann H rtm ann, Die Wohlfahrtspflege Wiens
(Jena, 1929), 98100; Speiser, Rote Wien, 49 -5 0 ; and Felix Czeike, Liberale, Christlichsoziale und Sozialdemokratische Kommunalpolitik (18 6 1- 1934): Dargestellt am Bei
spiel der Gemeinde Wien (Vienna, 1962), 99101, 10710.
109. See Philipp Frankowski and Dr. Karl Gottlieb, Die Kindergrten der Gemeinde
Wien (Vienna, 1927), 9, 11, 46-48 .
110. See David Crew, Germ an Socialism, the State and Family Policy, 19181933, Continuity and Change 1:2 (1986).
111. It was a major subject o f discussion at the socialist womens conference p re
ceding the im portant party congress o f 1926, at which the main guidelines o f social
ist policy, including the role o f women and the family, were promulgated. See
Frauenarbeit und Bevlkerungspolitik: Verhandlungen der sozialdemokratischen Frauenreichskonferenz, Oktober 2 9 -3 0 , 9 2 6 in Linz (Vienna, 1926), and Dr. Margarete Hilferding, Geburtenregelung (Vienna, 1926), on the danger o f reproducing the eugen-
ically unfit. The socialists were not alone in their concern about the decline o f the
birth rate and quality o f future generations. These matters preoccupied most
national governments, racists, imperialists, as well as social reform ers o f every stripe.
See Michael Teitelbaum and Jay Winter, Fear o f Population Decline (Orlando, Fla.,
1985). In France, during the interwar period such concerns led to first steps toward
family allowances based on the num ber o f children. See Cicely Watson, Population
Policy in France: Family Allowances and O th er Benefits: 1, Population Studies 7
(1953-54): 263-86.
1 12. See Doris Beyer, Sexualitt Mac lit Wohlfahrt: /eitgemilsse Kriimerungcn an das Role Wien, ' Zeit Geschichte 14:1 1/12 (Aug./Sept 1987): 453. I am
212
Notes to Pages 6 8- 72
214
die W iener Schulreform , Archiv: Mitteilungsblatt des Vereins f r Geschichte der Arbei
terbewegung 24:3 (July/Sept. 1984): 6.
155. For a clear Statement o f the original proposal, see O tto Glckel, Die ster
reichische Schulreform: Einige Feststellungen im Kampfe gegen die Schulverderber
Chapter 4
I.
In r e c e n t ye ars G e r m a n h i s t o r ia n s in p artit niai have b e e n fix ate d o n t h e t h e
o r e ti c a l d i s t in c t io n s a m o n g w o rk in g -c la ss p a r t y c u l t u r e , w o r k e i ev ery da y c u lt u r e ,
216
elite o r dom inant culture, working-class subculture, and worker culture p er se.
Although their often brilliant dem onstrations o f the manipulation o f abstractions
have the quality o f a to u r de force, they do n o t appear to have greatly influenced
empirical work. For the best o f these studies related to our subject, see Adelheid von
Saldern, A rbeiterkulturbew egung in Deutschland in d er Zwischenkriegszeit, in
Friedhelm Boll, ed., Arbeiterkulturen zwischen A lltag und Politik: Beitrge zum euro
pischen Vergleich in der Zwischenkriegszeit (Vienna, 1986); Dieter Langewiesche,
Politik Gessellschaft Kultur: Zur Problematik von Arbeiterkultur und kultu
rellen A rbeiterorganisationen in Deutschland nach dem 1. Weltkrieg, Archiv f r
Sozialgeschichte 22 (1982); idem., A rbeiterkultur in sterreich: Aspekte, T enden
zen u n d T hesen, in G erhard A. Ritter, ed., Arbeiterkultur (Knigstein, 1979);
H elene Maimann, Zum Stellenwert der Arbeiterkultur in sterreich, 1 91 8-19 34 ,
in Internationale Tagung d er Historiker d er Arbeiterbewegung, Arbeiterkultur in
sterreich, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1981); and Gerd Strom, Michael Scholing, and
Armin Frohm ann, A rbeiterkultur zwischen G egenkultur und Integration: Ein Lit
eraturb erich t, Internationale wissenschaftliche Korrespondenz zur Geschichte der
deutschen Arbeiterbewegung 22:3 (Sept. 1986).
The concept Socialist Party culture used here comprises the cultural activities
sponsored and directed by the SDAP on behalf o f the workers. Such activities
involved the workers private sphere and excluded both direct political activity and
life at the workplace. A m ore comprehensive view o f worker cultu re would include
these as well as various worker subcultures. The latter, originating largely in the pre
industrial period, were strongly marked by artisanal forms o f production and related
social structures and, more distantly, by an agrarian, Catholic-dominated milieu. The
notion that a distinct worker culture existed outside the dominant bourgeois cultural
mainstream is clearly rejected.
2. See Dieter Langewiesche, Zur Freizeit des Arbeiters: Bildungsbestrebungen und
Freizeitgestaltung sterreichischer Arbeiter im Kaiserreich und in der Ersten Republik
(Stuttgart, 1979), 3 8 8-8 9 , and Joseph Weidenholzer, A u f dem Weg zum Neuen
Menschen' Bildungs- und Kulturarbeit der sterreichischen Sozialdemokratie in der Ersten
Republik (Vienna, 1981), 9 0 -9 1. Both the aggregate and individual organization
memberships lack precision, because the Jahrbuch der sterreichischen Arbeiterbewe
gung (Vienna, 1926-31) on which they are based provides sketchy and sometimes
dubious data.
3. These are my adjustments from national figures which were 650,000,520,000,
and 260,000 respectively. Weidenholzer, A u f dem Weg, 91, and Langewiesche, Frei
zeit, 388.
4. For criticism o f such bureaucratic tendencies, see Walter Fischer, Der his
torische Materialismus als historische M ethode, and Anni Farchy, Zum Problem
des Parteiapparates, Der K am pf 21 (1928): 18-24, 170-75.
5. See Ferdinand Flossmann, Gegen die Zersplitterung der Krfte, Der Ver
trauensmann 2 :3 /4 (1926): 6.
6. Using capitalist production and the culture industry as examples, Joseph Luit
pold Stern suggested similar rationalization for the partys cultural enterprises.
Rationalisierung der Arbeiterbildung, Bildungsarbeit 15-10 (Oct. 1928): 189-92.
7. Its director from 1918 to 1922 and 1932 to 1934 was the powerful party cul
tural ideologue Joseph Luitpold Stern. From 1922 to 1932 the m ore pragmatic
party functionary Leopold Thaller was in charge. See Weidenholzer, A u f dem Weg,
100- 101 .
217
8. Its director (more appropriately boss) was David Joseph Bach. See H enrietta
Kotlan-Werner, Kunst und Volk: D avid Joseph Rach, 1 8 7 4 -1 9 4 7 (Vienna, 1977), 6 8 69.
9. See O skar Negt and Alexander Kluge, ffentlichkeit und Erfahrung: Zur Organ
isationsanalyse von brgerlicher und proletarischer ffentlichkeit (Frankfurt/M ain,
1972), 375 -7 6.
10. See Viktor Adler, Aufstze, Reden, Briefe (Vienna, 1902), XI: 21-23.
11. Englebert Pernerstorfer, Die Kunst und die A rbeiter, Der Kam pf 1 (1907):
38.
12. The earliest w orker cultural organizations were virtually dominated by bour
geois liberalism. T hat influence extended into the republican period, with liberal
teachers exercising influence over worker cultural organizations. Worker choirs
often un der their direction, for instance, tended to keep perform ance of workingclass songs to a minimum. See Helm ut Konrad, Die Rezeption brgerlicher Kultur
in d er sterreichischen A rbeiterbew egung, in Helmut Fielhauer and O laf Bock
horn, eds., Die andere Kultur: Volkskunde, Sozialwissenschaft und Arbeiterkultur
(Vienna, 1982), 5 1 -6 0.
13. See Kurt W. Rothschild, Bildung, Bildungspolitik und Arbeiterbewegung,
in G erhard Botz, Hans H autm ann, Helm ut Konrad, eds., Geschichte und Gesellchaft
(Vienna, 1973), 3 3 7-43 .
14. O tto B auers own thoughts on the subject are dispersed marginally through
out his work, mainly as the Austromarxist abstraction about raising worker con
sciousness and sensibility (a revolution o f souls) as part o f the revolutionary pro
cess. See ch. 2.
15. For the following, see Max Adler, Neue Menschen: Gedanken ber sozialistische
Erziehung (Berlin, 1924), 29, 5 0 -5 3 , 66 -6 8 , 7 1 -7 3, 109-10.
16. Adler attem pted to clarify his ideas in a lecture delivered in Dresden in 1926,
but all that em erged was a restatement: worker culture must be revolutionary and
aim at a reform o f consciousness. See Ernst Glaser, Im Umfeld des Austromarxismus:
Ein Beitrag zur Geistesgeschichte des sterreichischen Sozialismus (Vienna, 1981), 3 4 3 44.
17. Max Adler, Kulturbedeutung des Sozialismus (Vienna, 1924), 2-3.
18. O tto Neurath, M. Adler, Neue M enschen, Der K am pf 18 (1925): 1 1819.
19. See Klaus-Dieter Mulley, Demokratisierung durch Visualisierung: Z ur Ges
chichte des Gesellschafts- u nd Wirtschaftsmuseums in W ien, in Helm ut Konrad
and Wolfgang M aderthaner, eds., Neuere Studien zur Arbeitergeschichte (Vienna,
1984), III; Alfred Pfoser, Das Glck in der Vernunft: berlegungen zur O tto N eu
raths Kulturtheorie und zur austromarxistischen Lebensform , in Friedrich Stadler,
ed., Arbeiterbildung in der Zwischenkriegszeit: Otto Neurath und Gerd Arntz (Vienna,
1982), 168-72; and Glaser, Umfeld, 58-59.
20. O tto Neurath, Lebensgestaltung und Klassenkampf, Schriftenreihe Neue
M enschen, ed. Max Adler (Berlin, 1928), 5 -8 . His applauding o f the increasing
rationalization and concentration o f capitalism, as advantageous to a future socialist
society, resembled Kautskyan determinism on the one hand, and on the other
approached the C om interns position on fascism and capitalist concentration after
1928. See Gert Schfer, Die Kommunistische Internationale und der Faschismus (Offen
bach, 1973), and T heo Pirker, Komintern und Faschismus: Dokumente zur Geschichte
und Theorie des Faschismus (Stuttgart, 1965).
218
219
im portant element o f truth. Until 1934 the SDAP clung to the legal protections of
the republic, which its opponents sought to dismantle by every means.
39. See the very suggestive analysis in Pfoser, Literatur, 113-14.
40. Arbeiter-Zeitung, Dec. 5, 1930, 8.
41. See Pfoser, Joseph Luitpold Stern, 17.
42. See Alois Jalkotzky, Die Parteipresse, Der K am pf 23:10 (Oct. 1930): 406.
43. Freizeit des Arbeiters, 121.
44. Jalkotzky, Parteipresse, 4 0 7-10 .
45. See Peter Kulemann, Am Beispiel des Austromarxismus: Sozialdemokratische
Arbeiterbewegung in sterreich von Hainfeld bis zur Dollfuss-Diktatur (Hamburg, 1979),
22.
46. Stephan Schreder, Der Zeitungsleser: Eine soziologische Studie mit beson
d erer Bercksichtigung der Zeitungsleser Wiens (Ph.D. diss., University o f Basel,
1936), cited in Langewiesche, Freizeit, 123-24.
47. Kulemann, Beispiel, 23.
48. See Alexander Potyka, Das kleine Blatt (19271934): Ideologie und Tages
geschehen fr den kleinen M ann (Ph.D. diss., University o f Vienna, 1983), 1 0 11.
49. Although this was a publication for women by women, the SDAP made Max
W inter the editor-in-chief to supervise the female stall.
50. See Christina Kronaus, Zwischen Avantgarde und Gartenlaube: Literatur
und Politik am Beispiel des Fortsetzungsromans in den sozialdemokratischen
Medien, 1 9 20 -1 93 4 (Ph.D. diss., University o f Vienna, 1985), 190-95.
51. See Kthe Leichter, So leben w ir . . . 1320 Industriearbeiterinnen berichten ber
ihr Leben (Vienna, 1932), 114.
52. Langewiesche, Freizeit, 121.
53. Helene Maimann, ed., Dei ersten 100 fahre: sterreichische Sozialdemokratie,
1 8 8 8 -1 9 8 8 (Vienna, 1988), 351.
54. Leichter, So leben wir, 116.
55. Das geistige Leben d er A rbeiterjugend, Bildungsarbeit 20:9 (Sept. 1933):
172-73. Some respondents obviously listed more than one publication as the total
is m ore than 100%.
56. For the following, see the Schreder study cited in Langewiesche, Freizeit,
124-26.
57. In a broad critique of the partys cultural efforts, Oskar Poliak complained
that editorials and leaders in the party press were too difficult for popular consum p
tion. See W arum haben wir keine Kunstpolitik?, Der K am pf 22:2 (Feb. 1929): 86.
58. Even these figures would have to be reduced by 20%, if only the Vienna m ar
ket was considered.
59. Kulemann, Beispiel, 23-24.
60. Middle-class book clubs, Pfoser observes, probably reached ten times as
many worker readers as socialist ones. The same may be said about serialized fiction
in the large-circulation middle-class tabloids. Pfoser, Literatur, 82-83.
61. See for instance Der Metalarheiter, Der Galanteriearbeiter, and Der Textilarbeiter
for tedious content and style.
62. Langewiesche, Freizeit, 122.
63. See Joseph Zech, Zur Frage des geistigen Leben in unser Partei, Der Kampf
18:12 (Dec! 1925): 47.
64. For the obstacle o f Viennese dialect to various kinds of worker education,
220
see R obert Wegs, Growing Up Working Class: Continuity and Change Among Viennese
Youth, 1 8 9 0 -1 9 3 8 (University Park, Pa., 1989), 90-91.
65. See Weidenholzer, A u f dem Weg, 108-17, and Langewiesche, Freizeit, 2 8 2 85.
66. See Franz Senghofer, Vom Einzelvortrag zur Vortragsreihe, Bildungsarbeit 12:10 (Oct. 1926): 191.
67. See Max Adler, W and lun gd er Arbeiterklasse, Der KampJ 26 (1933): 3 7 9 80.
68. See W eidenholzer, A u f dem Weg, 113-17, and Langewiesche, Freizeit, 285.
69. For the following, see Weidenholzer, A u f dem Weg, 127-53.
70. W orker proportion o f the SDAP membership was 47.49%, but in the Parteischulen it was only 24.7-40.3% ; employees were 11.8% o f membership and
accounted for 30.4-47.5% o f the students; and civil servants were 12.3% of mem
bership and accounted for 2 1 -2 4 .7 o f the students. The preponderance o f employ
ees and civil servants in party schools became greater in the late 1920s and early
1930s. It revealed, am ong oth er things, the close relationship between party lead
ership and the employees o f the socialist municipality. Ibid., 145-46.
71. O n fallacious assumptions regarding the relationship between reading and
informing, reception and perception of print and other media, see Michel de Certeau, The Practice o f Everyday Life, trans. Steven F. Randall (Berkeley, 1984), ch. 12.
72. Jo seph Luitpold Stern, Handbuchfiir Arbeiterbibliothekare (Vienna, 1914).
73. The list o f undesirable writers included the ever-popular masters o f light fic
tion: Karl May, Hedwig Courths-Mahler, Edgar Wallace, and Ludwig Ganghofer.
But even such authors as Joseph Ferch and H ugo Bettauer, close to the socialist
camp, were considered unworthy.
74. For similar campaigns against trash and kitsch and for ennoblem ent in Wei
m ar Germany, see Adelheid von Saldern, The Political Striving for Good Taste
and Good Morals in the Weimar Republic, paper presented at the International
Colloquium on Mass C ulture and the W orking Class, Paris, 1988.
75. Stern, Rationalisierung, 189-90.
76. Stern, Handbuch, 19.
77. Ibid., 9.
78. For the following, see Pfoser, Literatur, 8 8 -9 0, 92, 96, 107, and 109.
79. These were unpaid party cadres who took short training courses offered by
the party to prepare them for their work and assure their understanding o f the Bildungszentrales aims.
80. See Langewiesche, Freizeit, 145-49.
81. Ibid., 160-61, 166.
82. Four-fifths o f Viennese SDAP members in 1929 were workers (blue-collar
workers, employees, housewives, pensioneers). One-fifth or 80,000 members were
from the middle class. Only 58.6% o f those who voted for the SDAP in 1932 were
party members. This meant that 282,885 voters for the SDAP were not affiliated with
it. See Kulemann, Austromarxismus, 3 0 2 -3 , and Alfred G eorg Frei, Rotes Wien (Ber
lin, 1984), 5 9 -6 0. This extension o f the SDAP from its working-class base into the
middle class paralleled developments in o th er socialist parties. For Germany, see Sig
m und Neumann, Die Parteien der Weimarer Republik (Stuttgart, 1965), 3 3 -36 ; for
France, see Georges Lefranc, Les Gauchesen France (Paris, 1965), and Eugen Weber,
Un demi-siecle de glissement a droite, International Review o f Social History 5
(1960).
83. These 32,000 worker subscribers am ounted to 8% o f SDAP membership.
221
222
1981), 388 -8 9.
109. The decided preference for G erman classics extended to the modernists,
with Mahler, Schnberg, and von W ebern represented but Stravinsky, Debussy, Prokoviev, Poulenc, Janacek, Bartok, and oth er foreign composers rarely perform ed.
110. See Kotlan-Werner, Kunst und Volk, 46.
111. See August Foster, Die T ransportarbeiter im ersten Arbeiter-Symphoniekonzert, Kunst und Volk 3:2 (Oct. 1928): 4 -5 .
112. See Kannonier, Zwischen Beethoven, 3.
113. Spontaneous music making in the tenements singing, dance music, street
musicians, instrum entals on holidays is rep orted in many oral histories o f workers.
See Michael Jo hn , Wohnungsverhltnisse sozialer Unterschichten im Wien Kaiser Franz
Josephs (Vienna, 1984), 199-200, and Wegs, Growing Up Working Class, 49-50.
114. See H enrietta Kotlan-Werner, Otto Felix Kanitz und der Schnbrunner Kreis:
Die Arbeitsgemeinschaft sozialistischer Erzieher, 1 9 2 3 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1982), 302-3.
115. See Kannonier, Zwischen Beethoven, 87-88.
116. See Reinhard Kannonier, Einige Gedanken zum Begriff Arbeitermusik
kultur, in Fielhauer and Bockhorn, eds., Andere Kultur, 46.
117. See Jank, Arbeitermusikbewegung, 128.
118. For the following, see ibid., 129-31.
119. See Kannonier, Zwischen Beethoven, 133.
120. Richard Wagner, D er Klassenkampf im Proletarierheim , Bildungsarbeit
13:7/8 (July-Aug. 1926): 113-15.
121. See A nna Bloch, Zur R undfrage das Bild: Bilder im proletarischen
H eim , ibid., 15:3 (March 1928): 50-51.
122. See Lorenz Popp, Kunst und Proletariat: Bemerkungen b er Erziehung
zum Kunstgenuss in d er bildenden Kunst, ibid., 13:7/8 (July-Aug. 1926): 129-30.
123. For the following, see the excellent Ph.D. dissertation o f Bela Rasky, Die
Fest- u nd Feierkultur d er sozialdemokratischen Bewegung in der Ersten Republik
sterreich 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 4 (University o f Vienna, 1985), 234-35.
124. See Friedrich Scheuer, Humor als Waffe: Politisches Kabarett in der Ersten
Republik (Vienna, 1977).
125. For a very similar development in Weimar Germany, see von Saldern,
Political and Cultural Striving, passim.
126. See Kannonier, Einige G edanken, 47.
127. See Wolgang M aderthaner, Sport fr das Volk, in Die ersten hundert Jahre,
174.
128. See for instance Robet F. Wheeler, O rganisierter Sport u n d organisierte
Arbeit: Die A rbeitersportbew egung, in Ritter, Arbeiterkultur, 59.
129. See Die ersten Hundert Jahre, 351, for the Viennese figures. The national
total was 240,000 putting Vienna in an atypical minority position regarding organ
izational strength, as com pared to the provinces. For all sports statistics on the
national level, see Reinhard Krammer, Arbeitersport in sterreich: Ein Beitrag zur Ges
chichte der Arbeiterkultur in sterreich (Vienna, 1981), passim and especially 267-68.
It should be kept in mind that the worker sports movement was developing rapidly
in the interwar years, especially in Central Kurope. German worker sports registered
1.5 million members (socialist and communist), and the Czechoslovakian (socialist)
membership stood at 200,000 for the period u n d er consideration. See Wheeler,
O rganisierter S port, 6 3-64 .
130. Krammer, Arbeitersport, 128 -30.
223
224
bewegung, in Dietmar Petzina, ed., Fahnen, Fuste, Krper: Symbolik und K ultur der
Arbeiterbewegung (Essen, 1986), 7986.
153. For the political paralysis o f the SDAP, see Rabinbach, Crisis, ch. 4.
154. See Krammer, Arbeitersport, 22 2 -2 5 , and also Festschrift zur 2. Arbeiterinter
nationale (Vienna, 1931).
155. In response to the request for such a stadium by Deutsch and Tandler,
Mayor Seitz and Finance Councillor Breitner pushed the necessary appropriation
through the municipal council. No doubt the customary socialist reservations about
spectator events were overcome in anticipation o f the symbolic im portance of the
event. See Hans Gastgeb, Vom Wirtshaus zum Stadium: 6 0 Jahre Arbeitersport in ster
reich (Vienna, 1952), 68-70.
156. See Das kleine Blatt, July 27, 1931, 1-2.
157. Q u oted in M it uns zieht die neue Zeit, 96.
158. See Alfred Pfoser, Massensthetik, Massenromantik, Massenspiel: Am
Beispiel sterreichs Richard W agner u n d die Folgen, Das Pult 66 (1982): 64.
159. For this and the following I am much indebted to Rasky, Arbeiterfesttage,
121-22, 131-32.
160. Thus the Sunday feast took the place o f Sunday mass, a spring festival sup
planted Corpus Christi, and winter solstice replaced Christmas. A consecration o f
youth (puberty rite) was established in place o f first com munion and confirmation.
See Wir mssen die Kirchenfeste berw inden, Bildungsarbeit 13:1 (Jan. 1926): 32.
To these were added special labor holidays such as Mayday, a March holiday to com
m em orate the revolution o f 1848, the founding o f the republic on November 12,
and later the com m em oration o f the victims o f July 15, 1927. There were similar
efforts to substitute secular for religious celebrations in France. In the anticlerical
Parisian worker suburb o f Bobigny, red baptisms were celebrated publicly to
counteract attem pts by the Catholic church to rechristianize the community. See
Tyler Stovall, French Communism and Suburban Development: The Rise o f the
Paris Red Belt ," Journal o f Contemporary History 24:3 (July 1989): 447.
161. Rasky, Arbeiterfesttage, 162.
162. See Pfoser, Massensthetik, Pult, 60.
163. For the origins o f politics as an aesthetic-emotional experience in late-nineteenth-century Austria, see Carl E. Schorske, Fin-de-Sicle Vienna: Politics and Culture
(New York, 1981), and WilliamJ. McGrath, Dionysian Art and Populist Politics in Aus
tria (New Haven, Conn., 1974). These origins in Central Europe are traced back
even fu rther by George L. Mosse, Nationalization o f the Masses: Political Symbolism and
Mass Movements in Germany from the Napoleonic Wars Through the Third Reich (New
York, 1975).
164. See for instance Joseph Luitpold Stern, Functionrschulen fr Feiern,
Kunst und Volk 17 (1930): 8-9 .
165. See Pfoser, Massensthetik, Pult. 6 7 -7 0. In H erm ann Bahrs novel ster
reich in Ewigkeit (1929) the suggestion is made that Bolshevik Vienna be aban
doned altogether and that only a Vende can save Austria. Ibid., 70.
166. See for instance Wilhelm Ellenbogen, Richard W agner u nd das Proletar
iat, Der K am pf 7:6 (May 1913): 4 1 -4 3 , and David Joseph Bach, D er A rbeiter und
die Kunst, ibid., 7:10 (Oct. 1913): 4 1-46 .
167. See Richard Lorenz, ed., Proletarische Kulturrevolution in Sowjetrussland
(Munich, 1969), 12-13, 163-71.
168. See Alfred Pfoser, Massensthetik, Massenromantik und Massenspiel,
Arbeiterkultur in sterreich, 126.
225
226
ing expeditions were particularly popular am ong youth organizations. See Rasky,
Arbeiterfesttage, 382-83.
183. Pfoser calls it a play ritual o f aesthetic arrangements. See Literatur, 75.
184. It is interesting to note that the three socialist symbols were im ported from
Weimar Germany: the salute from the communist Rot-Frontkmpfer-Bund and the
emblem and greeting from the socialist Eiserne Front. See G ottfried Korff, Rote
Fahnen und geballte Faust: Z ur Symbolik d er Arbeiterbewegung in d er Weimarer
Republik, in Petzina, ed., Fahnen, 3 4 -4 7.
185. Helmut Konrad suggests that these young people were probably closer to
the ideal o f neue Menschen than the athletes o f ASKO. See Foreword, Krammer, Arbeitersport, viii.
186. In Weimar Germany there was a similar popular resistance to an all-encompassing socialist party culture. Beneath the formalization o f the labor movement
culture, Geoff Ely observes, was a popular culture that remained relatively im per
meable to the form ers attractions and rationalizing methods. . . . The distance
between the formal and quotidien cultures was also reproduced inside the labor
movement itself, because the form er neglected whole dimensions o f experience
a broad spectrum o f expectations, anxieties, and hopes, o r the contradictory full
ness o f the working-class lifeworld even o f its own card-carrying m embers. See
L abor History, Social History, Alltagsgeschichte: Experience, Culture, and Politics
o f the Everyday A New Direction for German Social History?, The Journal of Mod
em History 61:2 (June 1989): 3 1 1-1 2 .
187. This was a familiar problem for Socialist parties in the interwar years. The
mercurial rise in membership o f the French SFIO following the strike wave of 1936
could not be accom modated by the existing party structure, and leaders o f the indi
vidual federations were not inclined to find o r support new ways o f reaching the
majority o f uninitiated workers. See H elm ut G ruber, Leon Blum, French Socialism,
and the Popular Front: A Case o f Internal Contradictions (Ithaca, N.Y., 1986), 5 -7 , 1 4 16, 52.
188. Max A dler accused party managers and bureaucrats o f having developed a
mentality o f ownership over their cultural preserves. See W andlung d er A rbeiter
klasse, 3 72 -8 0 . Kthe Leichter warned that the party elite reached by the cultural
program was in danger o f becoming a social elite as well, and complained that the
party had completely neglected the large n um ber o f unemployed. See Bildungsar
beit fr Arbeitslose, Bildungsarbeit 19 (1932): 220.
189. See for instance Felix Kanitz, Individualpsychologie in d er Arbeiterbe
wegung, Bildungsarbeit 14:10 (Oct. 1927); Erwin Wexberg, Alfred Adlers Indi
vidualpsychologie und die sozialistische Erziehung, Die sozialistische Erziehung 4:12
(Dec. 1924); Paul Lazersfeld, Marxismus und Individualpsychologie, ibid., 7:5
(May 1927); Individualpsychologie u n d Sozialismus, ibid., 7:11 (Nov. 1927);
Kotlan-Werner, Kanitz, 189-90; Glaser, Umfeld, 27 3-87 .
190. The SDAP never felt com fortable with the work o f Sigmund Freud, praising
it faintly in its publications while keeping its distance from it. In all likelihood this
was a response to his pessimism about the ability o f social or economic transform a
tion to ameliorate the painful transition from the pleasure to the reality principle
o r to make humans more happy o r fulfilled. The human costs in the avoidance o f
pain were made all too clear in F reu d s Das Unbehagen in der Natur, published in
1930, whose first edition o f 12,000 was sold out that year. See Johannes Reichmayr
and Elisabeth Wiesbauer, "Das Verhltnis von Sozialdemokratie und Psychoanalyse
in sterreich /.wischen 1900 und 19.38, in Wolfgang I lubcr, ed., Beitrge zur Ce-
227
schichte der Psychoanalyse in sterreich (Vienna, 1978), and P eter Gay, Freud: A Life for
Our Time (New York, 1989), 54 3-53 . For the SDAPs attitude toward the work o f
Chapter 5
1. It is im portant to rem em ber that the party was unable to alfect the workplace,
the one area crucially im portant in establishing both possibilities and limits in the
w orkers public and private sphere. The trade unions virtual impotence in the face
of continuous depressed economic conditions and intransigent owners protected by
the Christian Social national government gave an artificial cast to the entire Viennese
socialist experiment. See G erhard Botz, Streik in sterreich 1918 bis 1975: Prob
leme und Ergenbnisse einer quantitativen Analyse, in G erhard Botz et al., Bewe
gu ng und Klasse: Studien zur sterreichischen Arbeitergeschichte (Vienna, 1978), 8 07 -2 0,
and Dieter Stiefel, Arbeitslosigkeit: Soziale, politische und wirtschaftliche Auswirkung
am Beispiel sterreichs, 1 9 1 8 -1 9 3 8 (Berlin, 1979).
2. For a unique and brilliant analysis o f the emblematic qualities o f mass culture
(first published in the Frankfurter Zeitung in 1927), and the extent to which its surface
manifestations reveal the deep qualities o f an epoch, see Siegfried Kracauer, The
Mass as O rn am en t, trans. Barbara Correll and Jack Zipes, New German Critique 5
(Spring 1975): 6 7-76 .
3. For a sophisticated discussion o f the place and power o f mass culture in m od
ern society, see Michael Denning, The End o f Mass C ulture, and the related cri
tiques o f his position in International Labor and Working-Class History 37 (Spring
1990), as well as D ennings reply in the same jou rn al, 38 (Fall 1990). For the role o f
commercial culture in the creation o f worker traditions, see Eric Hobsbawm, MassProducing Traditions: F.urope, 1870-1914, in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence
Ranger, eds., The Invention o f Tradition (Cambridge, 1983).
4. For worker reaction to commercial culture in the late nineteenth century, see
P eter Bailey, Leisure and Class in Victorian England, 1 8 3 0 -1 8 5 5 (London, 1978), and
Gareth Stedman Jones, Working Class C ulture and Working Class Politics in Lon
don, 18701890, "Journal o f Social History 9 (Summer 1974). For the relationship o f
popular culture to the above, see G areth Jowett, Towards a History o f Popular Cul1
tu r e," Journal o f Popular Culture 9 (1975): 2.
5. O n the relationship o f working-class party cultures, worker subcultures, and
elite culture and the role o f socialist parties in the culture realm, see Stuart Hall,
Notes on Deconstructing the P opular: in Ralph Samuel, ed., Peoples History and
Socialist Theory (London, 1981), and Brigitte Emig, Die Veredelung des Arbeiters:
Sozialdemokratie als Kulturbewegung (Frankfurt/N ew York, 1980). For a m ore theo
retical consideration o f the above, see U m berto Eco, Apokalyptiker und Integrierte:
Zur kirtischen Kirtik der Massenkultur (Frankfurt, 1984).
6. Leading traditional critics from the right and left are united in their overestitnation o f mass cu ltu res rise to dominance. See Jose O rtega y Gasset, The Coining
of the Masses, and Dwiglil Macdonald, "A Theory o f Mass C ulture, in Bernard
228
Rosenberg and David M. White, eds., Mass Culture: The Popular Arts in America (New
York, 1957). In their desire to condem n mass culture, they overlook the struggle it
had to wage against older commercial and noncommercial forms o f leisure-time
activities, and the length o f time d uring which the latter were able to adapt and
defend themselves.
7. Even the socialist municipal administration reduced the workweek in public
utilities from 5 2 -5 4 to 48 hours only in 1927. See Peter Kulemann, Am Beispiel des
Austromarxismus (Hamburg, 1979), 346. But the average reduction o f the workweek
from over 60 hours before 1914 to u n d er 50 hours m eant a gain o f 10 hours of free
time a week for the worker.
8. See the superior Ph.D. dissertation by Ulrike Weber, Wirtschaftspolitische
Strategien der Freien Gewerkschaften in der Ersten Republik: Der Kampf gegen die
Arbeitslosigkeit, (University of Vienna, 1986), 178-90.
9. See H ans Safrian, Wir ham die Zeit d er Orbeitslosigkeit schon richtig gen
ossen auch: Ein Versuch zur (Uber-)Lebensweise von Arbeitslosen in Wien zur Zeit
d er Weltwirtschaftskrise um 1930, in G erhard Botz and Josef Weidenholzer, eds.,
M aterialien zur Historischen Sozialwissenschaft: Mndliche Geschichte und Arbeiterbewe
gung (Vienna, 1984).
10. T he following account o f commercial culture and the Viennese working class
is based on three ground-breaking articles by Joseph Ehmer: Vienna, anni settanta:
osterie, stru ttu ra della classe operaia e cultura politica del movimento, Movimento
Operaio et Socialista 8:1 (1985); Vaterlandslose Gesellen und respektable Familien
vter: Entwicklungsformen der Arbeiterfamilie im internationalen Vergleich, 1850
1930, in Helm ut Konrad, ed., Die deutsche und die sterreichische Arbeiterbewegung
sur Zeit der Zweiten Internationale (Vienna, 1982); and Rote Fahnen blauer Mon
tag: Soziale Bedingungen von Aktions- und O rganisationsform ender frhen Wiener
A rbeiterbewegung, D. Puls and E. P. Thom pson, eds., Wahrnemungsformen und Pro
testverhalten (Frankfurt, 1979).
11. Whereas men ate m ore substantial meals in the Gasthaus and remained there
for the duration o f their lunch hour, making it their social domain, women con
sumed a generally meager lunch o f leftovers at the workplace, which also served as
the setting o f their social networks. See Kthe Leichter, So leben w ir . . . 1320 Indus
triearbeiterinnen berichten ber ihr Leben (Vienna, 1932), 80.
12. In its multiple functions the Gasthaus was analogous to the Fnglish pub and
French caf, as a central locale o f working-class sociability.
13. See Alfred Frei, Rotes Vienna: Austromarxismus und Arbeiterkultur (Berlin,
1984), 108-15.
14. Vienna, anni settanta, 2 1-22 .
15. Handbuch der Gemeinde Wien (Vienna, 1935), 122.
16. See for instance Emanuel Haussier, H eurigendm m erung?, Neues Wiener
Tageblatt, Sept. 25, 1932.
17. For the following, see Hans Pem m er and Nini Lackner, Der Prater: Von den
Anfngen bis zur Gegenwrt (Vienna, 1974), and B ertrand M. Buchmann, Der Prater:
Die Geschichte des unteren Werd (Vienna, 1979).
18. See Benedikt Kautsky, Die Haushaltstatistik der Wiener Arbeiterkammer, 1 9 2 5 1934, supplem ent o f International Review o f Social History 2 (1935): 24 5 -4 6 , and Fritz
Klenner, Die sterreichischen Gewerkschaften (Vienna, 1953), II: 892-94.
19. N one o f the various official statistical yearbooks yields information about the
unit cost o f commercial culture products. N or do the sparse records o f trade unions
o r prop rieto r associations in the food o r alcohol trades shed any light on the sub
22 !)
ject.O ne is thrown back on the vague memories o f the aged for an approximation of
prices o f common consum er articles and services: 10 cigarettes cost 30 ( Iroschen; a
glass o f beer, 10-20 Groschen; a sausage, 20 Groschen; an ice cream cone, 30 G ro
schen; circus and variety admission, 50 Groschen to 5 Schillings. The price structure
between 1925 and 1933 rem ained fairly stable, although family wages declined after
1930 owing to massive unem ployment and wage cuts.
20. For the following, see Berthold Lang, Zirkus und Kabarett, in Fran/
Kadrnoska, ed., Aujbruch und Untergang: sterreichische Kultur zwischen 1918 und
1938 (Vienna, 1981); sterreichisches Circus- und Clown-Museum, Circus und Var
iet in Wien 1918 bis 1938 (Vienna, 1980); idem., Der sterreichische Circus (Vienna,
1978); idem., Unterhaltungskunst in Wien um 1900 (Vienna, 1979); Rudolf Weys,
Cabaret urul Kabarett in Wien (Vienna, 1970); Ernst G nther, Geschichte des Variets
(Berlin, 1978); and Felix Czeike, Das grosse Groner Wien Lexikon (Vienna, 1974). 1 am
also indebted to Mr. Berthold Lang, director of the sterreichisches Circus- und
Clown-Museum, for allowing me to sample the m useum s vast collection of circus
and Variet posters and memorabilia, and for inform ation not available in print.
21. Lang, Zirkus, 305, 3 07 -8 .
22. Der Kuckuck 2:20 (May 18, 1930): 8; Der sterreichische Circus, 14.
23. Pem m er and Lackner, Prater, 95.
24. Circus und Variet in Wien, 5 -6 .
25. Circuses were generally limited to five warm-weather months and perform ed
on weekends, when four o r five perform ances were given.
26. Some o f the most famous perm anent prew ar circus structures, such as the
Busch, were converted into movie theaters as early as 1920. See Lang, Zirkus, 309;
Circus Gestern und Heute: Mitteilungsblatt der Gesellschaft der Freunde des sterrei
chischen Circusmuseums 3 (March/April 1982): 9.
27. G nthers, Geschichte Variets, introduction.
28. Virtually all the great waltz conductors, including the scions of the Strauss
family, made a point o f taking the baton o f Variet orchestras. T he same was true for
composers o f operettas, such as R obert Stoltz and Ralph Benatzky.
29. Circus und Variet in Wien, 7. Variet made a great effort to advertise. Bor
rowing the techniques o f the American circus impresario P. T. Barnum, it developed
the sensational poster to a fine art and displayed it widely throughout the city.
30. Lang, Zirkus, 308; Cirkus und Variet in Wien, 9.
31. Circus urul Variet in Wien, 9 -1 0 ; Lang, Zirkus, 30 8-9.
32. Circus und Variet in Wien, 7 -1 0; Unterhaltungskunst Wien, 5, 7.
33. These included Variet Westend, M argaretner O rpheum , Brigittinauer
O rpheum , Favoritner Kolosseum, Tivoli Variet, Steiners Knstlerspiele, Rosen
sle, and Metropol-Variet. See Lang, 309; Unterhaltungskunst Wien, 18.
34. Lang, Zirkus, 303.
35. See Fritz Klingenbeck, Unsterblicher Walzer (Vienna, 1943), and Robert
Wegs, Growing Up Working Class: Continuity and Change Among Viennese Youth, 1 8 9 0 1938 (University Park, Pa., 1989), 119.
36. See Hans Safrian and Reinhard Sieder, Gassenkinder, Strassenkmpfer:
Zur politischen Sozialisation einer A rbeitergeneration in Wien 1900 bis 1938, in
Lutz N ietham m er and Alexander von Plato, eds., Wir kriegen jetzt andere Zeiten (Ber
lin, 1985); Reinhard Sieder, Vater, d e rf i aufstehn?: Kindheitserfahrungen in
W iener Arbeiterfamilien um 1900, in H ubert Ch. Ehalt, G ernot Heiss, and Hannes
Stakl, eds., Glcklich ist wer vergisst. . . das andere Wien um 1900 (Vienna, 1986); and
Wegs, Grinning Up Working ('.lass, 6 8 -7 3 , I 19-20.
230
37. Such play am ong boys sometimes became rough, almost ganglike struggles
over territory. See Karl Klein, Mit der Hollergasse gegen die Anschtzgasse, in
Heinz Blaumeiser et al., Ottakringer Lesebuch: Lebensgeschichten (Vienna, 1988), 4 4 45. Working-class children in Weimar Germany also regarded the Street as their
h om e a territory that was liberating and gave free reign to a variety o f uses and
self-expression. See Detlev J. K. P eukert , Jugend zwischen Krieg und Krise: Lebenswel
ten von Arbeiterjungen in der Weimarer Republik (Cologne, 1987), 7782.
38. Although the worker weekend began at noon on Saturday, married women
workers were engaged in catch-up household chores until Sunday afternoon, when
diey too were at leisure. Single female workers m ore often had more time for hiking
and o ther recreational activities. But for both, a trip into nature was a preferred
form o f release from the strains o f the workweek. See Leichter, So leben w ir , conclu
sion and appendix o f case histories. A similar near reverence for nature (comparing
it to liberation from the prison o f factory life) can be found in a study o f German
female textile workers. See D eutscher Textilarbeiterverband, Mein Arbeitstag Mein
Wochenende: 150 Berichte von Textilarbeiterinned (Berlin, 1930), passim.
39. The noncommercial recreation o f hiking and rambling was never quite out
o f touch with commercial culture. The satisfied but weary w anderer found ample
opportunity to refresh himself at various Gasthuser and Heurigen which lay not far
from his chosen path. For an analysis o f the significance of nature for workers in
Weimar Germany, see Kaspar Maase, Leben einzeln und frei wie ein Baum und brder
lich wie ein Wald: Wandel der Arbeiterkultur und Zukunft der Lebensweise (Cologne,
1987), 5 5 -5 6 .
40. T he municipal Kongressbad, o pened in 1928, drew 448,555 paying bathers
in the 1930 season. See H ans Hovorka, Republik K o n g e Ein Schwimmbad erzhlt
seine Geschichte (Vienna, 1988), 71.
41. Nude swimming, however, was forbidden by a law which was sometimes
enforced. It took place, nevertheless, on several small islands in the Danube not eas
ily accessible to the police. Lobau bathing received much coverage in the popular
socialist press, particularly the illustrated Kuckuck, which had a penchant for nudity
o r seminudity. See the full-page spread on August 21, 1932, for instance.
42. See Fritz Keller, ed., Lobau-die Nackerten von Wien (Vienna, 1985), and Safrian, Wir ham die Zeit der Orbeitslosigkeit.
43. See Reinhard Krammer, Arbeitersport in sterreich (Vienna, 1981), vii-viii.
Although K ram m ers work is devoted to recounting the history o f the SDAPs sport
organization (ASK), both in the introduction and conclusion the continued im por
tance o f unorganized and spontaneous sports is emphasized.
44. For a parallel situation in Weimar Germany, see Peukert, Jugend, 232-33.
45. Handbuch der Gemeinde Wien (Vienna, 1932). Official statistics o f such legal
garden plots did not include thousands o f others created on waste land proximate
to the city limits which were unauthorized but nonetheless tolerated. In 1918 there
had been about 150,000 o f these suburban plots o f 100-300 square meters. See
Hans H autm ann, H un ger ist ein schlechter Koch: Die Ernhrungslage der ster
reichischen A rbeiter im Ersten Weltkrieg, Botz, ed., Bewegung und Klasse, 670. For
a photo essay o f the garden plots as well as the laws governing their rental, see Nach
der Arbeit: Bilder und Texte zur Freizeit, 18 7 0 - 1 9 5 0 (Vienna, 1987), 7 -1 1 , 42-43.
46. Ironically, the galloping unem ployment o f the depression years created an
even larger am ount o f worker leisure, which the mass culture industries were able
lo exploit despite widespread impoverishment.
47. See the irony bordering on contempt o f the trade union educator Richard
231
232
233
o f 1927 the SDAP received 694,557 votes, o r 60.3% o f the total. SDAP membership
in the following year was 41 7,347. See Alfred Frei, Rotes Wien, 5 8-59 . According to
the SDAP Executive, the social composition o f the party included 54.51% workers,
19.76% employees and managers, and 15.96% housewives. See Kulemann, Beispiel,
3 01 -3 . If we consider that in the second group at least 50% were white-collar work
ers and that a majority o f the housewives were working class, then three-quarters of
the SDAP membership were workers. In view o f the potential num ber o f worker
filmgoers, the above estimates are on the low side.
67. Among workers in Chicago, moviegoing had become a habit by the 1920s.
See Lizabeth Cohen, M aking a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1 9 1 9 -1 9 3 9
(New York, 1990), 12020. For a similar treatm ent o f German workers, see W. L.
Guttsman, Workers Culture in Weimar Germany: Between Tradition and Commitment
(New York, 1990), 263-74.
68. For the following, see Rudolf Lassner, Theater- und Kinobesuch: Fine psy
chologische Analyse (Ph.D. diss., University o f Vienna, 1936), especially v, 1-2, 49,
5 6 -6 2 , 9 2 -1 16 . The study includes 356 persons o f both sexes, and all ages begin
ning at 15. 270 responded to a questionnaire; 66 were interviewed. 25% o f the sam
ple was from the working class and was categorized as such in the analysis. For similar
findings am ong youthful cinema audiences in Weimar Germany, see Alois Funk,
Film und Jugend: Eine Untersuchung ber die psychischen Wirkungen des Films im Leben
der Jugendlichen (Munich, 1934), and Yeukevl, Jugend, 218-20.
69. See Ludwig Gesek, Wann, wie oft u n d u n te r welchen Bedingungen geht die
Ju gen d in sterreich ins Kino: Teilbericht ber die Erhebung Jug end und Film
(unpublished manuscript, 1933, in possession o f Dr. Ludwig Gesek, Vienna), 1-61.
O f 13,603 questionnaires sent out to schools and youth organizations throughout
Austria, 10,054 were retu rn ed and analyzed. 25% of the respondents were from
Vienna; the largest group (38.3%) were children of workers. Two further* parts of
the study, on childrens perceptions o f film content and the role o f the film in the
intellectual life o f children, were never carried out.
70. N or was it for their parents. Given their cold dwellings in wintertime, it is
small w onder that the unem ployed found refuge in movie theaters where, for a small
price, hours o f warmth could be enjoyed. This situation also prevailed in England
and Weimar Germany. See Peukert, Jugend, 184-88; George Orwell, The Road to
Wigan Pier (New York, 1958), 8 0 -8 1 ; and Jo h n Stevenson, British Society, 1 9 1 4 -4 5
(London, 1984), 396.
71. The argum ent was most cogently made by H ortense Powdermaker, Holly
wood, the Dream Factory: An Anthropologist Looks at the Movie-Makers (New York, 1951),
introduction. When the lights go out, she observes, critical faculties go out as well.
The effect o f the darkened theater is no doubt powerful, but are not other faculties
stimulated by it as well: empathy, projection, assimilation? Ilya E hrenburgs critique
was an exercise in vulgar economic determinism to dem onstrate that cinema was the
powerful tool o f leading industrialists. See Die Traumfabrik (Berlin, 1931). An even
earlier version by the Austrian culture critic Richard G uttm ann, Die Kinomenschheit:
Versuch einer prinzipiellen Analyse (Vienna, 1916), charged that film educates the eye
to see imprecisely.
72. The distinguished film critic and theorist Bela Balazs was the only one on the
Viennese cultural scene to appreciate the unique visual power o f film. In its expres
sive use of gestures he saw the em ergence o f the first international language and the
beginnings of a new visual culture. See Der sichtbare Mensch oder die Kultur des Films
(Vienna, 1924). Balazs wrote film reviews for Der la g from 1922 to 1925, when he
234
left for Berlin as part of the cineast migration at the time. No film critic o f com pa
rable quality, with an understanding of film as a medium o f mass culture, appeared
in Vienna in the next decade. For his film criticism in Vienna, see Joseph Zsuff'a, Bla
Balazs: The Man and the Artist (Berkeley, Calif., 1987), 129-36.
73. The following is based on an analysis o f Paimanns Filmlisten: Wochenschrift f r
Lichtbild-Kritik, 1924-32, an independent weekly listing current films with summa
ries; the trade publications Der Filmbote: Zeitschrift f r alle Zweige der Kinematographie,
1925-27, sterreichische Film-Zeitung, 1927-29, and Wiener Kino, 1924; and the
popular socialist daily Das kleine Blatt, 192933.
74. The roster o f m ajor directors included (to name but a few): G. W. Pabst,
Jo seph Sternberg, Ren Clair, Jean Renoir, Julien Duvivier, Marcel Pagnol, William
Wellman, G. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Michael Curtiz, Sergei Eisenstein, V. I.
Pudovkin, and Jacques Feyder. The complaint in other countries about the lack of
good films and the prevalence o f kitsch seems also to have been the same. See Kracauer, Caligari, passim; Genevive Guillaume-Grimaud, Le Cinma du Front Popu
laire (Paris, 1986), 197; Tony Algate, Comedy, Class and Containment: T he British
Domestic Cinema in the 1930s, in Curran and Porter, eds., British Cinema, 259ff;
and Roger Dooley, From Scarface to Scarlett: American Films in the 1930s (New York,
1979), index o f films.
75. See Jo h a n n Hirsch, Kino u n d Massenbewusstsein: Die erfolgreichsten
Filme, 19 3 0 /3 1 , Bildungsarbeit 18:7-8 (July-Aug. 1931): 8 2 -8 4.
76. See Jo h n Willett, Art and Politics in the Weimar Period: The New Sobriety, 1 9 1 7 1933 (New York, 1978), chs. 11, 15.
77. See Fritz, Kino, 138; Fritz, Glanz, 3.
78. See Allerweltsverdummungstrust and Vorstadtkino, Arbeiter-Zeitung,
N ovember 26, 1919, and January 18, 1920; David J. Bach, Das Kino des Proletar
iats, ibid., O ctober 1, 1922.
79. F or the following, see Die Filmreform, Arbeiter-Zeitung, May 17, 1924.
Film producers boycotted the meeting.
80. See Bach, Kino, and Ernst Weizmann, Der Film u n d die A rbeiterschaft,
ibid., May 1, 1924.
81. See for instance Die Welt des Films, ibid., Septem ber 12, 1926, and
August 14, 1932. Film exhibitors defended themselves against the charge o f serving
u p a heavy diet o f trash with the less than candid view that the public decides what
films are shown a stock answer in the international film world. See Der Defrau
d a n t, Der Filmbote 43:9 (Oct. 23, 1926): 5 -6.
82. See Glaser, Umfeld Austromarxismus, 4 9 6-97 .
83. Der blaue Engel, Das kleine Blatt, April 4, 1930.
84. In the exhortatory tone in which all o f his writing was couched, Rosenberg
urged youth to lead the way in the struggle against and for the cinema. See Wir
u n d das Kino, Der Jugendliche Arbeiter 27:2 (Feb. 1928): 2-3. Rosenfeld repeated
this argum ent on the radio. Der A rbeiter und d er Film: Vortrag, gehalten am 30.
J n n e r 1929 im W iener Radio (Arbeiterkammerstunde), Bildungsarbeit 16:2 (Feb.
1929): 17-20. He also attacked the alleged neutrality o f the Kulturfilm o r docum en
tary as a bourgeois deception, for the selection o f subjects alone reflected class bias.
What the working class needed, he argued, was not hypocritical neutrality but honest
proletarian films reflecting the class struggle. Der neutrale Kulturfilm, Bildung
sarbeit 16:9 (Sept. 1919): 105-8. Compulsively, Rosenfeld repeated his critique o f
the capitalist film even in exile, long after the possibility o f socialist influence on film
235
in Austria had passed. See Film und Proletariat: Versuch einer Soziologie des
Kinos, Arbeiterjahrbuch (Karlsbad, 1934).
85. Hirsch, Kino, 85.
86. Sozialdemokratische Kinopolitik, Der K am pf 2 2 :4 (April 1929): 192-97.
87. G erhard Dreier, Film und Partei, Bildungsarbeit 17:1-2 (Jan.-Feb. 1930):
18-20.
88. But even as late as 1932 the SDAPs theoretical organ featured an attack on
the film as the repository o f all the kitsch which had been driven out o f literature and
the fine arts. See Ernst L eonhard, Der Film als sthetische, wirtschaftliche und pol
itische Erscheinung, Der K am pf 2 5 :8 -9 (Aug.-Sept. 1932).
89. For the following, see Venus, Hinein in das Kino, 210-21.
90. Das Kino d e r Zehntausend, Arbeiter-Zeitung, April 3, 1927.
91. The bank was founded in 1922 as an economic enterprise by the SDAP, the
trade unions, and the cooperative societies. In 1932, long past its best years, the
Arbeiterbank had a capital stock o f 4 million Schillings, deposits o f 54 million, and
profits o f 713,000. See Kulemann, Beispiel, 319.
92. For the following, see Venus, Hinein in das Kino, 210-21.
93. In defending the new licensing procedures against its critics in the industry,
the SDAP claimed that the previous control by the police was subject to political
inlluence, whereas now city hall could help to improve the quality o f films exhibited.
The new law also contained a veiled form of censorship to protect youth un d er
sixteen. To be exhibited as Jugendfrei (general admission), all films had to be
screened by a municipal film committee. At the box office, age restrictions were dif
ficult to enforce. See Die Bundesregierung will das Wiener Kinogesetz verhin
d e rn , Arbeiter-Zeitung, August 22, 1926.
94. It appears that the H am bers excellent connections at city hall particularly
with Breitner and Seitz smoothed the way for their collaboration with Kiba.
95. The growth o f Kiba increased the n u m ber of complaints in film industry pub
lications about unfair com petition from an enterprise that enjoyed the support of
the Arbeiterbank and the municipal government. Ironically, it was charged that the
socialists were politicizing the cinema. See for instance Politisierung der Kinos,
Osterreichische-Film-Zeitung, February 19, 1927.
96. From 1925 to 1933 the m ajor film trade publications fomented against the
luxury tax on cinema, pointing out the favoritism shown to legitimate theater, which
paid markedly lower taxes, and to the Kiba movie houses, which were given other
economic privileges.
97. This included Kibas twelve plus ano th er fifteen commercial theaters. But
Kiba's indirect control was even greater, because its purchasing and renting power
made it possible to influence oth er distributors and to determ ine their choice of
films. Venus, Hinein in das Kino, 218.
98. Sozialdemokratische Kinopolitik, 195-96.
99. The SDAPs claim to be the champion o f the quality film with social content
was challenged in the controversy surrounding the exhibition o f the American film
All Q uiet on the W estern F ro n t in 1931. Disturbances during the first few screen
ings and fu rth e r threats o f violence by right-wing groups made it possible for the
national government to intervene on grounds o f threats to public order and
safety. As in the case o f Schnitzlers Reigen perform ance in 1921 (see ch. 6), the
socialist mayor and city councillors initially took a firm stand on not giving in to the
film criticism o f the street. But they capitulated only a few days later, and the film
236
was banned. Ironically, the SDAP organized bus tours to Bratislava, where the film
was being shown (leading to the popular quip: Im Westen nichts neues im Osten
gesehen). See Alfred Pfoser, Literatur und Austromarxismus (Vienna, 1980), 199201, and Grall, H inein, 84-85.
100. Venus, Hinein in das Kino, 224. When Kiba remodeled the old ApolloT heater into a luxurous movie palace at great expense, David Joseph Bach, Rosenfelds superior at Die Arbeiter-Zeitung, took on the jo b o f praising this creation and
writing the subsequent film reviews. See Rosenfelds letter o f 1976, quoted in H en
rietta Kotlan-W erner, Kunst und Volk: D avid Joseph Bach, 1 8 7 4 -1 9 4 7 (Vienna, 1977),
9 7 -9 8 .
101. The SDAPs failure to use the cinema law o f 1926 to its advantage in gaining
control over m ore theaters is similar to its feeble use o f the Wohnungsbefrderungsgesetz in the early 1920s to gain municipal control o f vacant o r unused dwellings.
102. For a glimpse o f ju st how ruthless the industry could be in the international
center o f the film world, see R obert Sklar, Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of
American Movies (New York, 1979), ch. 14, and Gorham Kindern, ed., The American
M ovie Industry: The Business o f Motion Pictures (Carbondale, 111., 1982).
103. For a similar ambiguity regarding film am ong socialists in Weimar G er
many, see Adelheid von Saldern, Ennobling Mass Culture: The Political and Cul
tural Striving for Good Taste and Good Morals in the Weimar Republic, paper
presented at the Colloquium on Mass Culture and the Working Class, 1914-70,
Paris, 1988.
104. The denigration o f film as a cheap form o f amusem ent lacking the noble
and serious qualities o f elite culture was prevalent in all social strata. Frequent
movie attendance was often adm itted with a certain embarrassment, as being some
how culturally unworthy. See Lassner, Kinobesuch, 5-7.
105. For the church's general position, see Wiener Dizesanblatt, July 10, 1926.
106. State ow nerhip a n d /o r control was usual in E urope and throughout the rest
o f the world except for the United States, where commercial advertisements formed
a principal part o f the revenue o f privately owned stations. In Austria radio listeners
paid modest users fees.
107. See Was ist die Ravag?, Die Brse, January 1, 1925; T heodor Venus, Ver
handlungen u n d G r n du ng d er sterreichischen Radio-Verkehrs A. G . (Ph.D.
diss. University o f Vienna, 1982), part 3; idem., Vom Funk zum Rundfunk Ein
K ulturfaktor entsteht, in Geistiges Leben im sterreich der Ersten Republik (Vienna,
1986).
108. SDAP proprietorship in Ravag (through the municipality) was 20%. The
advisory council had representatives from the Chambers o f Labor, Industry, and
Agriculture, from trade associations o f the radio industry and retailers, and from
associations o f listeners depending on membership. See T heodor Venus, Der
Sender sei die Kanzel des Volkes: zur sozialdemokratischen Rundfunkpolitik d er 1.
Republik, in sterreichische Gesellschaft fr Kulturpolitik, Arbeiterkultur in ster
reich, 22 6-3 3 .
109. Rintelin wrote in his memoirs that his intention from the beginning had
been to thwart the Marxists in Vienna. H e also participated in the Nazi putsch
against the Dollfuss governm ent in July 1934. See Ernst Glaser, Die Kulturleistung
des H rfunks in d er Ersten Republik, Geistiges lieben, 25 -2 6. The conflict between
business and culture orientations was made clear at the festive opening o f Ravag,
where Rintelin and Viennese mayor Seitz represented the two sides.
237
(Munich, 1983), 141-60, for the best accounts o f what am ounted to a miniature civil
war and the turning point in the politics o f the First Republic.
119. See the official Christian Social position in Die Ravag im Dienste der
sozialdemokratischen Partei, Reichspost, July 21, 1927.
120. The strategy o f the Germ an SPD on radio was very similar to that o f the
SDAP. It too sought pluralism and the aired contest o f political ideas, and its efforts
also foundered on the intransigence o f its political opponents. Ultimately, German
radio also became an organ o f the government. See H orst D. Iske, Die Film und
Rundfunkpolitik der SPD in der Weimarer Republik: Leitfaden und Dokumente (Berlin,
1985).
121. For the following, see Venus, Sender Kanzel des Volkes, 233 -3 4 , 258,
264.
122. Jahrbuch der sterreichischen Arbeiterbewegung, 1931 (Vienna, 1932), 426.
123. See Arbeiter-Zeitung, March 14 and Ju n e 22, 1928. This form o f censorship
persisted throughout the period whenever the Cham ber o f Labor proposed pro
grams that went beyond technical work issues to economic o r social relations. In the
two cases cited, the head o f the Cham ber o f Commerce and the minister o f education
insisted that the subjects were not within the competence, as they narrowly defined
it, o f the Cham ber of Labor. The Ravag administration hewed to this line, and the
socialists on the committees denounced the censorship and threatened to take
action.
238
239
young women were negative on factual lectures; and the young of both sexes
expressed a liking for jazz.
136. H rerbefragung, 5.
137. See for instance Die H rer wnschen m ehr Heiterkeit, Das klein lilatl,
O cto ber 10, 1932.
138. T here were some exceptions, particularly in the Bildungszentrale, but lhey
had little influence over the partys cultural decision makers. See for instance Fritz
Rosenfeld, Der Rundfunk und das gute Gewissen, Bildungsarbeit, 19:10 (O d.
1932): 189-90.
139. Michel de Certeau offers a brilliant analysis o f the relationship between p ro
duction and consum ption in which the use made o f mass culture products by the
consum er is viewed as a process o f transform ation a kind o f production in
response. See The Practice o f Everyday Life, trans. Steven F. Rendall (Berkeley, ( )a.,
1984), 31.
140. Unfortunately, there exists no real history of Austrian soccer. Three exist
ing studies give little but a soccer fans view o f teams and players, with only occasional
references to size o f audience. See Leo Schidrowitz, Geschichte des Fussballsporles in
sterreich (Vienna, 1951); Karl Langisch, Geschichte des sterreichischen Fussballsports
(Vienna, 1965); and Karl Kastler, Eussballsport in sterreich (Linz, 1972).
141. Julius Deutsch, Unter Roten Fahnen: Vom Rekord zum Massensport (Vienna,
1931), 3 -1 2 . For the SDAPs position on commercial sports, see ch. 4.
142. Hendrik deM an, Zur Psychology des Sozialismus (Jena, 1927), 3 6 -3 9.
143. See for instance Peter Friedmann, Die Krise d er Arbeitersportbewegung
am Ende d e r W eimarer Republik, in Friedhelm Boll, ed., Arbeiterkulturen zwischen
A lltag und Politik: Beitrge zum europischen Vergleich in der Zwischenkriegszeit (Vienna,
1986), 2 3 5-40 . For intraspectator agression, see R. Horak, W. Reiter, K. Stcker,
eds., Ein Spiel dauert lnger als 90 M inuten: Fussball und Gewalt in Europa (Ham
burg, 1988).
144. An Austria-Italy match attracted 90,000 spectators who caused a dangerous
landslide. Schidrowitz, Geschichte Fussballsportes, 125.
145. For the season 193233, official statistics list 446 professional champion
ship games and 121 professional cup games. See Handbuch der Gemeiruie Wien
(Vienna, 1935), 201.
146. The idea that mass culture manipulates the consumer, imposing false needs
and false consciousness on him, has been challenged only recently. Hans Magnus
Enzensberger, for instance, suggests that the success o f mass culture depends in part
o n its appeal to real needs. See Constituents of a Theory o f the Media, The Con
sciousness Industry: On Literature, Politics, and the Media (New York, 1974).
147. For an interesting account o f how young workers creatively both survived
and used their leisure time during the depression, see Safrian, 'Wir ham die Zeit.
148 It is interesting that the socialists paid hardly any attention to the oldest
forms o f spontaneous noncommercial leisure-time activities (rambling, swimming),
which clearly, could not be thrown in the pot with cheap capitalist distractions.
These activities continued to make a considerable claim on the workers free time,
which the party dem anded for itself. The party apparently chose to treat the subject
with silence.
149.
See Larry May, Screening O u t the Past: The Birth o f M ass C u ltu re a n d the
M otion Picture Industry ((Chicago, 1980), 3 4 -42 ; Sklar, M ovie-M ade America, ch. 2; and
Roy Rosen/.weig, F ight H onrs for W hat You W ill: Workers a n d Leisure in Worcester, M a s
sachusetts (Cambridge, Mass., 1983), ch. H
240
C h ap ter 6
1. See Richard J. Evans, Introduction: the Sociological Interpretation o f G er
man L abour History, in idem., The German Working Class, 1 8 8 8 -1 9 3 3 : The Politics
o f Everyday Life (London, 1982), 4 0-41 . For a m ore general discussion o f the worker
family as receptor and resister, see the unpublished conference paper o f Geoff Filey,
Some Thoughts on the History o f the Family and Its Relation to the History o f the
Working Class, Second Meeting, SSRC Research Seminar G roup on M odern Ger
man Social History, January 12-13, 1979.
2. See Joseph Ehmer, Familienstruktur und Arbeitsorganisation im frhindustiellen
Wien (Vienna, 1980), 208-36.
3. See Joseph Ehmer, Vaterlandslose Gesellen und respektable Familienvter:
Entwicklungsformen der Arbeiterfamilie im internationalen Vergleich, 18501930, in H elm ut Konrad, ed., Die deutsche und die sterreichische Arbeiterbewegung zur
7.eit der Zweiten Internationale (Vienna, 1982), 136-38.
4. See particularly O tto Bauer, Mieterschutz, Volkskultur und Alkoholismus: Rede
im Arbeiter-Abstinentenbund am 20. Mrz 1928 (Vienna, 1929).
5. This development had been presum ed by Marx and Engels and, m ore recently,
by August Bebel, Klara Zetkin, and Lilly Braun.
6. Reinhard Sieder, Behind the Lines: Working-Class Family Life in Wartime
Vienna, in Richard Wall and Jay Winter, eds., The Upheaval o f War: Work and Welfare
in Europe, 1 9 1 4 -1 9 1 8 (Cambridge, 1988), 134.
7. For the origins and later meaning o f the concept ordentliche Familie, see
Joseph Ehmer, Familie u n d Klasse: Zur E ntstehung der Arbeiterfamilie in Wien,
in Michael M itterauer and Reinhard Sieder, eds., Historische Familienforschung
(Frankfurt, 1982).
8. See Joseph Ehmer, Frauenarbeit un d Arbeiterfamilie in Wien: Vom Vormrz
bis 1934, Geschichte und Gesellschaft 7:3/4 (1981): 451, 470, tables 1 and 2. Almost
half (41.3 percent) o f all women were married.
9. The subject quite naturally received extensive and repeated coverage in the
publications intended for women: Die Frau, Die Unzufriedene, Die Mutter, and Einheit.
But it was also a m ajor concern o f Die sozialistische Erziehung, Der Vertrauensmann,
Bildungsarbeit, Das kleine Blatt, Der Kuckuck, and Der Kampf. It is interesting to note
that female white-collar employees, the majority o f whom were unmarried, were sub
ject to versions o f the triple b u rd en experienced by blue-collar m arried female
workers. The b urden o f the white-collar employee took place in the environment of
the family o f origin where, as a daughter, she was expected to share in the housework
and even look after children with other female family members. See Erna Appelt,
Von Landenmdchen, Schreibfrulein und Gouvernanten: Die weiblichen Angestellten
Wiens zwischen 19 0 0 und 1934 (Vienna, 1985), 169-78.
241
ety, 1 8 7 0 -1 9 4 0 (New York, 1981), 166. The masculinization o f female dress was also
242
lines as indicated above, save for the assistance o f shop stewards; 94.91 % o f the
homeworkers were women.
35. See PTimer, Frauenarbeit, 470, table 1. As Ehm er acknowledges, the cen
sus figures left out a large sector o f working-class women: those who considered
themselves employed for less than full time. This category included tens of thousands
o f homeworkers.
36. Ibid., 472, table 6. The growth in factory workers was greatest in the newer
industries, with women comprising 40% in the electrical industry, 50% in metal
working, and 80% in lightbulb production. Women continued to dominate in the
traditional female textile and weaving industry. Domestics had decreased by 50%
since 1910, whereas employees mainly office workers and sales clerks were the
fastest growing occupational g roup (454).
37. See Jo a n W. Scott and Louise A. Tilly, W om ans Work and the Family in
N ineteenth-Century E urope, Comparative Studies in Society and History 17 (1975).
38. Leichter, So leben wir, 4 1 -4 4.
39. Ibid., 78-79.
40. Ibid., 8 1 -8 3 . Only 14% o f the women received some assistance from men
with housework and childcare. The average workday o f Germ an female textile work
ers was equally long and filled with tensions brought on by multiple responsibilities
and the lack o f time to fulfill them. Though single women disposed o f more free time
after factory work, they were invariably forced to lend a hand with housework and
child care in the family household. See D eutscher Textilarbeiterverband, 150 Ber
ichte von Textilarbeiterinnen (Berlin, 1930).
41. Leichter, So leben wir, 73-74.
42. Reinhard Sieder, H ousing Policy, Social Welfare and Family Life in Red
Vienna, 1 9 1 9 -1 93 4 , Oral History: Journal of the Oral History Society 13:2 (1985): 39.
43. See G ottfried Pirhofer and Reinhard Sieder, Zur Konstitution d e r Arbei
terfamilie im Roten Wien: Familienpolitik, K ulturreform , Alltag und sthetik, in
Michael M itterauer and Reinhard Sieder, eds., Historische Familienforschung (Frank
furt, 1982), 34 2-43 . For m arried couples living in crowded parental homes, see
especially the oral history files o f Frauen Schau, Win, Pre, and F'ie available at the
Institut fr Wirts< hafts- und So/.ialgeschichle of the University o f Vienna.
243
44. Leichter, So leben wir, 9 4 -9 7 . As a result, only 21.9% o f the children under
6 went to kindergarten, and 18.1% o f those und er 14 made use o f the after-school
centers. O f the latter age group, 17% had no supervision whatever.
45. Ibid., 109-10.
46. Ehmer, F rauenarbeit, 464-65.
47. Ibid., 4 6 1-6 2 .
48. Ibid., 4 5 9 -6 0 . This conclusion is well dem onstrated in an American study.
See Ruth Schwartz Cowan, The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth
to the Microwave (New York, 1983).
49. See Reinhard Sieder, Street Kids: The Socialization o f Viennese WorkingClass C hildren, typescript o f pap er delivered at the International Colloquim on
Sociabilit o f the Working Class, held in Paris in 1985, 21, and Robert Wegs, Grow
ing Up Working Class: Continuity and Change Among Viennese Youth, 1 8 9 0 -1 9 3 8 (Uni
versity Park, Pa, 1989), 140-42.
50. See M argarete Rada, Das reifende Proletarier-Mdchen (Vienna, 1931), 5960,
8 2-84 .
51. See Kthe Leichter, Frauenarbeit und Arbeitterinnenschutz in sterreich
(Vienna, 1927), 58.
52. See Kthe Leichter, Die Entwicklung d er Frauenarbeit nach dem Krieg,
Handbuch der Frauenarbeit, 40, 42, and Edith Riegler, Frauenleitbild und Frauenarbeit
in sterreich (Vienna, 1976), 132. Leichter argues that low female wages rather than
improved technology were the cornerstone of Austrian economic rationalization
(34).
53. See for instance Kthe Leichter, Vom Frauenberuf: Das Schwache Ges
chlecht bei d er A rbeit, Das kleine lilatt, Oct. 19, 1927.
54. See Leichter, Wie leben die Wiener Heimarbeiter'?, 11, 13, 1 9 ,2 5 ,3 7 ,4 1 , 45.
55. See Gabriele Czachay, Die soziale Situation d e r Hausgehilfinnen Wiens in
der Zwischenkriegszeit (master thesis, University o f Vienna, 1985), 143-48. Mar
ianne Poliaks romantic novella in which a maid goes to vocational school, learns
about the law protecting domestics, and finds love and marriage with a true com
rade all with the guidance o f the SDAP is far removed from reality. See Aber
schaun S , F ruln Marie!: Liebesgeschichte einer Hausgehilfin (Vienna, 1932).
56. See Wilhelmine Moik, Die Freien Gewerkschaften und die Frauen, Hand
buch der Frauenarbeit, 581.
57. See Peter Stiefel, Arbeitslosigkeit: Soziale, politische und wirtschftliche Auswirkungem am Beispiel sterreich (Berlin, 1979), 200202.
58. See F rauenarbeit, Arbeit und Wirtschaft 7:15 (Aug. 1, 1929): 698, and
Doppelverdiener, Die Arbeiterin 7:4/5 (April-May 1930): 5.
59. See Frauenarbeit, "Jahrbuch 1932 des Bundes der Freien Gewerkschaften ster
reichs (Vienna., 1933), 115.
60. F rauenarbeit, Arbeit und Wirtschaft, 702.
61. At the trade union congress o f 1931 the num ber o f female delegates reached
11.3 percent. But female union membership was twice as high. See Heinz Renner,
Die Frau in den Freien Gewerkschaften sterreichs, 1901-1932: Statistische
Materialien, International Conference o f Labor Historians, ITH Tagungsbericht 13
(Vienna, 1980), 1: 322, 329.
62. So leben wir, 1 16, 122. But 73.3% o f her sample were trade union members.
6 3 . 4 1.2% o f t h e h u s b a n d s o r life c o m p a n i o n s o f t h e s e w o m e n w e r e u n e m p l o y e d ;
8 2 . 3 % o f (h e w o m e n s u p p o r t e d o t h e r s o r a t least th e m se lv e s . Ib id ., 13, 103, 107.
64. I b id ., 54 I ,ei< l ite r e x a g g e r a t e s t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e fact th a t 3 1.9% o f the
244
single women said they would continue working in any case. She overlooks the fact
that these women had as yet only limited household and childcare responsibilities.
65. See Marie Jahoda, Paul Lazersfeld, and Hans Zeisel, Die Arbeitslosen von M ar
iethal: Ein soziographischer Versuch (1933; Bonn, 1980), 9 1 -9 2 and Ehmer, Frauen
arbeit, 466. In the female network o f factory labor, information about birth control
and abortion was traded freely. Ibid., 46 8-6 9 .
66. Generally the women workers lunch brought to the factory consisted o f
bread and vegetables often eaten unheated. For the generally high carbohydrate and
fat content o f working-class diets, see Der Lebensstandard von Wiener Arbeiter
familien im Lichte langfristiger Familienbudgetuntersuchungen, Arbeit und Wirt
schaft 13:12 (Dec. 1959): supplem ent 8, 10. See also Roman Sandgruber, Bitterssse
Gensse: Kulturgeschichte der Genussmittel (Vienna, 1986), 81, 182.
67. Leichter reports (So leben wir, 108-15) that 78.7 % spent evenings at home
doing housework. Meetings were attended by a mere 4.4%. Entertainm ent outside
the cinema was virtually unknown. Only the radio (aside from the press) offered a
steady contact with the wider world, but only for 36.1% o f the sample. Leichter
makes too much o f the young, unm arried women who were able to get out o f the
home. She neglects the fact that, to make this freedom possible, some other, usually
older, woman in the household had to bear the full burden.
68. Leichter, Entwicklung der F rauenarbeit, 38.
69. For the SDAP, see H elene Maimann, ed., Die ersten 1 0 0 Jahre: sterreichische
Sozialdemokratie, 1 8 8 8 -1 9 8 8 (Vienna, 1988), 3 5 1 .1 have been unable to find reliable
figures for Viennese trade union and Cham ber o f Workers and Employees function
aries. I f one includes the lowest level o f these, an estimate o f several hu ndred might
be realistic.
70. But it must be kept in mind that, here as well as in the SDAP, trade unions,
and Cham ber o f Workers and Employees, women were grossly underrepresented.
T he one exception was the municipalitys D epartm ent o f Social Welfare, in which
2,884 women were employed. It was the only branch o f the administration with a
heavy concentration o f female employees. See A nna Grnwald, Die Frau in der
Gemeindeverwaltung in d er Gemeinde W ien, Handbuch der Frauenarbeit, 653.
71. This distance was deplored by individual socialists leaders. See Max Adler
and Kthe Leichter in ch. 4.
72. The birthdates o f six doyennes were as follows: Anna Boschek, 1874; Adel
heid Popp, 1879; Emmy Freundlich, 1878; Therese Schlesinger, 1863; Gabriele
Proft, 1879; Amalie Seidel, 1876. See H erm ine Agnezy, Die Frauenbewegung in
d e r Sozialdemokratischen Partei von 1918 bis 1934 (Hausarbeit, Institut fr Zeit
geschichte, University o f Vienna, 1975), 9 2 -9 4.
73. For a suggestive complaint about socialist female employers who exploited
their domestics, see Helen Goller, Klassenkampf im Haushalt, Die Frau 37:3
(March 1, 1928): 5.
74. In the sharpest attack on such wishful thinking that has come to light, Sophie
Lazersfeld challenged the basis o f a program for the sexual education o f youth
drafted by Iherese Schlesinger and Dr. Paul Stein. No one is served, Lazersfeld
argued, if he is told how desirable things ought to be, but only if he is shown how
he can get there. See Zur Frage d er sexuellen Aufklrung d e r Jugend, Bildung
sarbeit 20:1 (Jan. 1933): 52.
75. For a useful introduction to sexuality as a historical problem, see Jeffrey
Weeks, Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation o f Sexuality Since 1800 (London,
1981). For a concise review o f theoretical approaches, sec Ellen Ross and Rayna
245
Rapp, Sex and Society: A Research Note from Social History and Anthropology,
Comparative Studies in Society and History 23 (Jan. 1981). For the problems o f writing
246
health, beauty, clothing, and cooking in an uncommercial fashion; and offered a col
um n on Women Speak from the H ea rt and a personal column for marriage seek
ers. By 1933 it reached a circulation o f 160,000 and was m entioned as the prefereed
weekly o f female industrial workers. See Leichter, So leben wir, 116.
89. Similar caution was expressed in the popular tract by Hans Hackmack, Arbei
terjugend und die sexuelle Frage (Berlin, 1922), 15-16.
90. Erfahrungen und Probleme d er Sexualberatungsstellen fr Arbeiter und
Angestellte in Wien, Der Sozialistische Arzt 5 (1929): 99.
91. See Karl Sablik, Julius Tandler: Mediziner und Sozialreformer (Vienna, 1983),
278-80.
92. W ohnungsnot u n d Sexualreform , in Weltliga fr Sexualreform, Sexualnot
und Sexualreform: Verhandlungen (Vienna, 1931), 5 -1 4.
93. T andlers eugenicist views were reflected in his interventionist approach to
public welfare. See ch.3.
94. Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs, W ohnungsnot und Sexualreform, 3 9 -4 1.
95. Dr. Siegfried Kraus, ibid., 4 1-4 2 .
96. Die sexualnot d er Werkttigen Massen und die Schwierigkeiten d er Sexual
reform , ibid., 7 4 -7 5 , 8 0 -8 3 .
97. O tto Bauer rarely intervened in the discussion on sexuality. But leading fig
ures o f the partys cultural, educational, youth, and welfare programs acted as
spokesmen. Most influential behind the scenes in determ ining the SDAPs position
was its executive secretary, Robert Danneberg, who was responsible for the politi
cal and moral purity o f the party. See Wolfgang N eugebauer, Robert Danneberg
(18851942): Eine biographische Skizze, Archive: Jahrbuch des Vereins der Geschichte
der Arbeiterbewegung 1 (1985); 8 6-88 .
98. An attem pted abortion was punishable by a term o f from six months to one
year, and a successful abortion by from one to five years; midwives and physicians
implicated were subject to the same terms. A law o f leniency, however, was at the
disposal o f the judges to reduce o r cancel prison sentences. See Dr. W. Gleisback,
Das V erbrechen gegen das keimende Leben im geltenden und knftigen Strafrech te, Zeitschrift f r Kinderschutz, Familien- und Berufsfhrsorge 20:1 (Jan. 1928): 2.
99. See W. Latzko, Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift 26 (1924): 1387. In G er
many the estimates were one million abortions in 1931 in a female population o f
31.2 million; the average working-class woman was thought to have two o r more
abortions in her lifetime. See Atina Grossman, A bortion and Economic Crisis: The
1931 Campaign against # 2 1 8 in Germany, New German Critique 14 (Spring 1978):
121-22, 125.
100. See Karin Lehner, R eform bestrebungen d e r Sozialdemokratie zum Para
graph 144 in sterreich in d er 1. Republik, Ungeschriebene Geschichte, 298-99.
101. See Benno Wutti, Die Stellung der Sozialdemokratischen Partei ster
reichs zur Frauenfrage, (Ph.D. diss., University o f Vienna, 1975), 102-11.
102. See Die Schwangerschaftsunterbrechung: Eine Tagung der sozialdemo
kratischen Aerzte, Arbeiter-Zeitung 144 (May 25, 1924).
103. Julius Tandler, Ehe u n d Bevlkerungspolitik, Wiener medizinische Woch
enschrift 74 (1924).
104. See Lehner, Reform bestrebungen, 30 2 -3 , and Sablik, Tandler, 281-82.
105. See Therese Schlesinger, Die Frau im sozialdemokratischen Parteiprogramm
(Vienna, 1928). The pertinent paragraphs were reprinted in the journals aimed at
women.
247
106. See M it uns zieht die neue Zeit: Arbeiterkultur in sterreich, 191 f l - 1934
(Vienna, 1981), 225. An assembly o f 2,500 delegates representing SDAP members
and voters, meeting in Vienna on Septem ber 25, 1927, dem anded (he revisions of
paragraph 144 adopted by the SDAP party congress at Linz. Lehner, Reformbe
strebungen, 186-88.
107. O tto Bauer was chairman; the commission included the notables Max
Adler, Julius Deutsch, Robert Danneberg, Wilhelm Ellenbogen, Oskar Helmer, Karl
Kautsky, Jr., Karl Renner, Paul Richter, and Karl Seitz. The sole woman was Adel
heid Popp, who had made it clear at the p rior womens conference that she sup
ported the position o f the socialist physicians out o f party loyalty. See Lehner,
Reform bestrebungen, 146-47.
108. For the following, see Frauenarbeit und Bevlkerungspolitik: Verhandlungen
der sozialdemokratischen Frauenreichskonferenz, Oktober 2 9 -3 0 , 1926 in Linz (Vienna,
1926), 15-50.
109. Leopoldine Glckel summed up the position o f the majority that women
could not have the right to control their own bodies until they had been completely
enlightened.
110. See Dr. M argarete Hilferding, Geburtenregelung (Vienna/Leipzig, 1926),
14-15, and G ertrud Ceranke, Willst du heiraten?
111. See for instance Herwig H rtner, Erotik und Rasse: Eine Untersuchung ber
gesellschaftliche, sittliche und geschlechtliche Fragen (Munich, 1925), 5 2 -5 3 , and Rob
ert H ofstdter, Arbeitende Frau: Ihre wirtschaftliche Lage, Gesundheit, Ehe und Mutter
schaft (Vienna, 1924).
112. For instance Adelheid Popp, G eburtenregelung und Menschenkon
om ie, Weltliga, Sexualnot, 503.
113. Zur Psychologie der Geschlechter, Der Kam pf 18 (June 1925): 25-27.
114. See G eburtenregelung u nd Kinderschutz, Die Unzufriedene 35 (Aug. 28,
1926): 1.
115. For instance Dr. M argarete Hilferding, Probleme d er G eburtenrege
lung, Die Mutter 1 (April 1925): 6.
116. The first o f these was created in 1917. A fter 1924 they were spread
throughout Vienna by the municipal council in response to T andlers campaign
against syphilis. The clinics gave advice but no treatm ent, so as not to conflict with
private physicians. See Sablik, Tandler, 283.
117. See M it uns zieht die neue Zeit, 226, 23031. Attempts by Die Unzufriedene to
sponsor consultation hours for the psychological needs o f women o r the showing of
the antiabortion film Cyankali were valiant efforts along these lines.
118. See Eckl, K rperkultur, 91 -9 2.
119. See Karl Fallend, Wilhelm Reich: Dozent d e r Psychoanalyse, Sexualbera
ter und rebellischer Parteigenosse (Ph.D. diss., University o f Salzburg, 1987), 16974; Reich, Erfahrungen und Probleme, 98; and David Badella, Wilhelm Reich
(Bern, 1981), 71-72.
120. For instance Sexualerregung und Sexualbefriedigung (Vienna, 1929), and
Geschlechtsreife, Enthaltsamkeit, Ehemoral (Vienna, 1930). Both were published by the
Mnster Verlag and appeared in four o r m ore printings. The form er discussed the
safety and use o f condoms, pessaries, and antispermatic pills, recommended the best
brands, and quoted the approxim ate price.
121. For the num erous sex manuals readily available to workers in Weimar G er
many, see Grossman, New Woman and Rationalization o f Sexuality, 15962.
248
24 ! )
hung 6:3 (1926). In the centers the emphasis on washing and cleanliness was
monomaniacal.
138. Anton Tesarek, Das Buch der Roten Falken (Vienna, 1926) 10-12, lists
15,1 17 members nationally of whom approximately 40 percent were in Vienna. See
also Rosi Hirschegger, Lasst die roten Fahnen wehn: Die Geschichte der Roten Falken
(Innsbruck, 1987).
139. See Wolfgang Neugebauer, Bauvolk der kommenden Welt: Geschichte der
sozialistischen jugenbewegung in sterreich (Vienna, 1975), 113218.
140. By 1931 this led to a rebellion against political constraints within the SAJ,
expressed in a general critique o f the passivity o f the SDAP in the face of increased
right-wing threats to the party. See Rabinbach, Crisis, ch. 3.
141. N eugebauer, Bauvolk, 138. The num ber is small when com pared to the
adults in the SDAP o r the 1 4 -2 1-year-olds in the Viennese population. The expla
nation offered by N eugebauer and others that the SAJ was a feeder organization
which sent a large percentage into the party each year does not alter the low ratios
m entioned above. Both the Rote Falken and the SAJ were coeducational, but girls
constituted only 25 percent o f either organization.
142. See Therese Schlesinger, Wie -will und soll das Proletariat ihre Kinder erziehen?
(Vienna, 1921), 2-4.
143. T he church attacked the SDAPs youth organizations in general as subverters o f parental authority and especially as corruptors o f morals in their comingling
o f the sexes. See Gulick, Austria, 35 9 -6 0, 609-10.
144. Virtually every party leader o f consequence wrote glowingly on this subject.
Der jugendliche Arbeiter and Die sozialistische Erziehung featured it regularly.
145. C om m andm ent # 9 . Tesarek, Rote Falken, 8.
146. Comradeship was offered as a substitute for sexual drives. See O tto Felix
Kanitz, Kam pf und Bildung (Vienna, 1920), 22-23. For similar tendencies in the
G erm an SAJ, see Karen Hagemann, Wir ju n g e n Frauen fhlten uns wirklich
gleichberechtigt, in Wolfgang Ruppert, ed., Die Arbeiter: Lebensformen, Alltag
und K ultur von der Frhindustrialisierung bis zum Wirtschaftswunder (Munich,
1986), 77-78.
147. W orte eines Proletariervaters, Der jugendliche Arbeiter 25 (July 1926):
108-9.
148. Mdel von H eu te Zur Ehe, ibid., 29 (June 1930): 12-13.
149. Gewerkschaft, Jugend und Kultur (Vienna, 1928), 3-20.
150. Unsere A rbeit, Handbuch fr die Ttigkeit in der sozialistischen Jugendbe
wegung (Vienna, 1929), 166-69.
151. See Therese Schlesinger and Dr. Paul Stein, Leitstze fr die sexuelle Auf
klrung d er Ju g e n d , Bildungsarbeit 19 (Dec. 1932).
152. Irrefahrten: Aus dem Tagebuch eines suchenden Mdels (Vienna, 1929).
153. O n the conflict and gradual blending o f traditional values and changing cir
cumstances, see Joan W. Scott and Louise A. Tilly, W om ens Work and the Family
in N ineteenth-Century E urope, Comparative Studies in Society and History 17 (1975),
4 2 -6 4.
154. Ortswechsel: Die Geschichte meiner Jugend (Frankfurt/M ain, 1979(, 9496.
Buttingers case is particularly interesting because he was a graduate o f the SDAPs
prestigious Arbeiterhochschule and was the model young socialist the partys program
sought to create. After the SDAP was outlawed in 1934, he became head o f the
und erg ro un d parly (renamed Revolutionre Sozialisten sterreichs) in 1935.
155. Among the older workers the main transgressions were drunkenness and
250
wife beating. See Anson Rabinbach, Politik und Pdagogik: Die sterreichische
sozialdemokratische Jugendbew egung, 1 9 31 -3 2 , in Gerhard Ritter, ed., Arbeiter
kultur (Knigstein, 1979), 174-75.
156. See for instance Dr. Karl Kautsky, Die Pflicht der G esundheit, Der jugend
liche Arbeiter 25 (July 1926): 106-8, and G erda Brunn-Kautsky, Proletarier
mdchen und K rperkultur, ibid., 23 (March 1924): 12-13.
157. Marie Jahoda-Lazersfeld pointed out that the party leaders had never
resolved the problem o f freedom and authority in the conduct o f party life at the
organizational level. O n the sexual question, she found, the leaders retained a sur
prising degree o f inhibition. See A utoritt und Erziehung in der Familie, Schule
und Jugenbew egung sterreichs, Studien ber Autoritt, 72021.
158. Reich, Sexualnot, 87-92.
159. Reich, Geschlechtsreife, 122-24; Sexualerregung, 7-14; and Sexualnot, 75,
8 0 -8 3 .
160. Ernst Fischer, Krise der fugend (Vienna, 1931), especially 1 5 ,1 7 ,2 2 - 2 5 ,3 3 38, 5 2-53 .
161. This included the domination o f men over women in the sexual realm and
in general. For a thorough discussion o f Fischers views, see Anson Rabinbach,
Ernst Fischer and the Left Opposition in Austrian Social Democracy, (Ph.D. diss.
University o f Wisconsin, 1973), ch. 3.
162. See Fallend, Reich, 25675; Erich Wittmann, Wilhelm Reich, Wiener
Tagebuch, Ju n e 1985, and idem., Reich in W ien, Die Linke 7 (April 9, 1986).
163. For the confrontation at the party congress, see Rabinbach, Crisis, 73-154.
Shortly after the abortive rising o f February 1934, Fischer jo in ed the Communist
party.
164. See Leichter, So leben wir, introduction, and Sophie Lazersfeld, Wie die Frau
den Mann erlebt (Leipszig, 1931).
165. F'or the problem o f evidence in reconstructing everyday life, see Alf Ldtke,
ed., Alltagsgeschichte: Zur Rekonstruktion historischer Erfahrungen und Lebensweisen
(Frankfurt, 1989); Peter Borscheid, Pldoyer fr eine Geschichte des Alltg
lichen, in H ans Teuteberg, ed., Ehe, Liebe, Tod: Zum Wandel der Familien-, Ge
schlechts- und Generationsbesichtigung in der Neuzeit (Mnster, 1983); Helene Mai
mann, Bemerkungen zu einer Geschichte des Arbeiteralltags, in G erhard Botz et
al., Bewegung und Klasse: Studien zur sterreichischen Arbeitergeschichte Vienna, 1978);
Elizabeth Roberts, A Woman s Place: An Oral History o f Working Class Women, 1 8 9 0 1940 (Oxford, 1984); H ubert Ch. Ehalt, ed., Geschichte von Unten (Vienna, 1984);
Robert W heaton and Tam ara K. Hareven, eds., Family and Sexuality in French History
(Philadelphia, 1980); and G erhard Botz and Joseph Weidenholzer, eds., Mndliche
Geschichte und Arbeiterbewegung (Vienna, 1984).
166. The following relies on Reinhard Sieder, Vater d erf i aufstehn?: Kind
heitserfahrungen in Wiener Arbeiterfamilien um 1900, in H ubert Ch. Ehalt and
G ernot Heiss, eds., Glcklich ist wer verg isst . . . ? Das andere Wien um 1900 (Vienna,
1986). H ere and elsewhere Sieders work is based on some sixty extensive oral his
tories deposited on tape and in transcript at the Institute for Economic and Social
History o f the University o f Vienna.
167. See Reinhard Sieder, H ousing Policy, Social Welfare, and Family Life,
42.
168. These conditions were attested to by the child psychologist and municipal
councillor Joseph Friedjung, Die geschlechtlich Aufklrung im Erziehungswerk
(Vienna, 1926), 7 -8 , and the psychologist and socialist youth functionary Hildegard
ll<-i/i-t K in dh eit u n d A n n u l (I r u t/.m , 1929), 122.
178. Sieder observes that this peer group freedom in the street had its daily end
with the retu rn o f the father from work and the resum ption o f parental authority in
the home. With the onset o f work, the freedom outside the home of males increased,
whereas that o f females was diminished. See Vater, 5 2 -5 3 , 6 0-61 .
179. See Hans Safrian, Wir ham die Zeit der Orbeitslosigkeit schon richtig
genossen auch: Ein Versuch zur (ber-) Lebensweise von Arbeitslosen in Wien zur
Zeit d er Weltwirtschaftskrise, in Botz and Weidenholzer, eds., Materialien, 2 9 3 331.
180. Among the court cases for abortion on file for Vienna, the average age was
seventeen to eighteen years. See Strafprozessakte zum Paragraph 144, Archiv der
Stadt Wien (1921-32).
181. Buttinger, Ortswechsel, 125-27.
182. Reich, Sexualerregung, 4669.
183. See Weltliga, Sexualnot, 114-15.
184. Safrian and Sieder, Gassenkinder, 130.
185. The difficulty o f attracting females to the youth organizations was a con
stant refrain in SDAP publications. See for instance, Gibt es eine Mdlfrage in der
Jugendorganisation?, Die sozialistische Erziehung 9 (April 1930): 90.
186. S eeJ. Robert Wegs, Working Class Respectability: The Viennese P'.xperience, Journal ojSocial History 15 (Summer 1982): 630-31.
187. See Lazersfeld, A utoritt, 720-21
188. Sc- Friedrich Scheu, F in B and der Freundschaft: Schuiarzwalder Kreis u nd
E ntsteh un g der V ereinigung Sozialist!. he M ittelschler (Vienna, 1985), 153 - 55.
252
189. See Jenny Strasser, Manchmal hat die Polizei all festgenommen, in Fritz
Keller, ed., Lobau die Nackerten von Wien (Vienna, 1985), 6 4 -6 5 .
190. G assenkinder, 131.
191. See Maria Bayza, Die schnste Art unglcklich zu sein, in Keller, Lobau,
6 9 -7 0.
192. Die sozialistische Erziehung 1 (Jan. 1922).
193. See H enrietta Kotlan-Werner, Otto Felix Kanitz und der Schnbrunner Kreis:
Die Arbeitsgemeinschaft sozialistischer Erzieher, 1 9 2 3 -1 9 3 4 (Vienna, 1982), 297-300.
194. See Geschlechtliche Aufklrung, 16-31.
195. See Ernst Glaser, Im Umfeld des Austromarxismus: Ein Beitrag zur Geistesge
schichte des sterreichischen Sozialismus (Vienna, 1981), 273-333.
196. See Die Sozialistische Erziehung 7 (Nov.-Dec. 1927).
197. Die Ehe von heute und morgen (Munich, 1927), 6669.
198. G ottfried Pirhofer and Reinhard Sieder, Zur Konstitution d er Arbeiter
familie im Roten Wien: Familienpolitik, Kulturreform, Alltag und sthetik, in Mit
terauer and Sieder, eds., Historische Familienforschung, 348. Premarital intercourse
between courting couples was also common in Lancashire, England. See Jo h n R. Gillis, For Better or Worse: British Marriages, 1600 to the Present (New York, 1985), 235.
For similar practices in France and Germany, see Daniel Bertaux and Isabelle Bertaux-Wiame, Jugendarbeit bei freier U nterkunft und Verpflegung Bckerlehr
linge und Hausm dchen im Frankreich der Zwischenkriegszeit, in Botz and Wei
denholzer, eds., Mndliche Geschichte, 26 6 -7 0 , and Carola Lipp, Sexualitt und
H eirat, in R uppert, Arbeiter, 193-94.
199. Pirhofer and Sieder, Konstitution, 346-47.
200. See Eva Viethen, W iener Arbeiterinnen: Leben zwischen Familie, Lohn
arbeit und politischen Engagem ent (Ph.D. diss., University o f Vienna, 1984), 309,
357.
201. For the very best o f these, see Ehmer, Frauenarbeit, 438 -7 3 .
202. See Elizabeth Maresch, Ehefrau im Haushalt und Beruf: Eine statistische Dar
stellung f r Wien a u f Grund der Volkszhlung vom 22. Mrz 1934 (Vienna, 1938), 13,
36. Among working wives 49.44% had no children, 44.45% had one child, and
6.11% had two children.
203. The same explanation for France and England, beginning with the later
nineteenth century, is given in Louise Tilly and Jo a n W. Scott, Women, Work, and
Family (New York, 1978), 170-72. The authors observe that a decrease in family size
actually led to an increase in the m o th ers responsibility for child care (210-11). For
com parable conditions in Germany, see N eumann, Industrialization, 289-91.
204. Ehmer, Frauenarbeit, 451.
205. Applying condoms o r diaphragms in a dark bedroom crowded with children
and possibly o th e r adults was surely no easy feat. Reichs instructions for this pro
cedure are daunting. See Sexualerregung, 2 4 -2 6. The average cost, according to
Reich, o f a package o f three condoms was 1.5 to 3 Schillings. The average worker
budget in 1932 allowed five Schillings o r less for incidentals that included tobacco,
beverages, and entertainm ent. I f it was increased from time to time, it was at the
expense o f essentials such as food. See Fritz Klenner, Die stereichischen Gewerkschaf
ten (Vienna, 1953), II, 893, and Bendikt Kautsky, Die Haushaltstatistik der Wiener
Arbeiterhammer, 1 9 2 5 -1 9 3 4 , supplem ent o f International Review o f Social History 2
(1935): 2 45 -4 6.
206. The same applies for France and England. See Etienne van de Walle, Moti
vations and Technology in the Decline of French Fertility, in Wheaton and liar-
25:5
even, eds., Family and Sexuality, 147-52, and D. Gittins, Fair Sex: Family Size and
Structure, 1 9 0 0 -1 9 3 9 (London, 1982), 169. For Germany, see Dr. Max Marcuse, l)er
eheliche Prventivverkehr: Seine Verbreitung, Verursachung und Methodik (Stuttgart,
1917), 168-72. Coitus interruptus was supplem ented by various homely methods
and devices douching, cotton wads, postcoital urination o f negligible
effectiveness.
207. Ehmer, F rauenarbeit, 468-69.
208. In the period 1 851-1920 seventy case files were deposited in the Vienna
archives, including the notorious Mittermayer file. See Katharina Riese, In wessen
Garten wchst die Leibesfrucht?: Das Abreibungsverbot und andere Bevormundungen
Gedanken ber die Widersprche im Zeugungsgeschft (Vienna, 1983), 49, 89-119.
209. The cases o f Anna Ernst, Anna Sternak (1921); Rosalia Kaufmann, Anna
Haselmayer, Marie Prudek, Barbara Zimmermann (1922); M argarethe Hatzi, Marie
Schmidt, Anna Konrath, A nna Geist (1923); Sophie Rauch, Joseph Banauer (1929);
Emma G oldmann (1930); Aloisia Bribitzer, Leopoldine Heinz (1931); Veronika
U nger (1932). Strafprozessakte zum Paragraph 144.
210. The judiciary in o ther countries (Czechoslovakia, Germany, Switzerland)
was considering the decriminalization o f abortion. See the report on the Swiss
suprem e court for instance, Schweizer Richter gegen die A btreibungsbestrafung,
Arbeiter-Zeitung, Jline 7, 1927.
211. What the migraine was for the middle-class wife, work in the evenings, until
h er husband went to bed and fell asleep, was for the working-class wife: a means of
avoiding intercourse. See Petra Helm, Interviews mit Frauen ber Sexualitt und
Hygiene, Institut fr Wissenschaft und Kunst, Oral History Projekte in sterreich
(Vienna, 1984), 66.
212. The following is based on Reinhard Sieder, Die Geschichte d er einfachen
Leute ein Them a fr Geschichtswissenschaft u nd U nterricht, Beitrge zu Histo
rischen Sozialkunde 14 (Jan.-M arch 1984), 27-31.
213. Cases o f wives refusing intercourse for similar reasons are recorded in
F^ngland. See Ellen Ross, Fierce Questions and Taunts: Married Life in WorkingClass London, 1 8 70 -1 91 4, Feminist Studies 8 (Fall 1982): 595, and Roberts, Wom
a n s Place, 95.
214. See Appelt, Ladenmden, Schreibfrulein und Gouvernanten, 158-61. Appell
reports one case in which a young wife was forced to term inate her pregnancy by her
mother-in-law because o f the crowded conditions in the common dwelling (172).
215. So leben wir, 4 1 -4 4 , 7 3-7 4 , 7 8-79 , 8 1 -8 3 , 109-10.
216. See the pioneering empirical social science study o f Marie Jahoda, Paul Lazersfeld, and Hans Zeisel, Die Arbeitslosen von Marienthal: Fin soziographischer Versuch
(1933; Frankfurt, 1980), 8 3 -1 1 2 . A more recent study finds this loss o f male affect
primarily am ong settled heads o f families. See Safrian, Wir ham die Zeit, 316-20.
217. The SDAP killed the squatters/garden city movement, which was based on
initiatives from below and on worker self-management, in 1923. See Klaus Novy,
Selbsthilfe als Reformbewegung: Der Kampf der Wiener Siedler nach dem I . Welt
krieg, ARCH: Zeitschrift fr Architekten, Sozialarbeiter und kommunalpolitische
G ruppen 55 (March 1981). Initiatives from below and attem pts at self-management
were quickly nipped in the bud by the party bureaucracy even in the new municipal
housing. See Alfred Frei, Austromarxismus und Arbeiterkultur (Berlin, 1984), I 1013.
21 8 . W ee k s, S exua lity, 5 7 - 5 9 .
21 9 . S e e Pirl i n fe r , Politik a m K r p e r , 69 .
2 2 0 . S e e M ietern h u ll, 8 - 9 .
254
C o n clu sio n
1. See Julius Braunthal, Die Arbeiterrte in Deutschsterreich (Vienna, 1919); O tto
Bauer, Die sterreichische Revolution (Vienna, 1923); Rolf Reventlow, Zwischen Aliierten und Bolschewiken: Arbeiterrte in sterreich, 1918 bis 1923 (Vienna, 1969); Hans
H autm ann, Die verlorene Rterepublik: Am Beispiel der Kommunistischen Partei Deut
schsterreichs (Vienna, 1971): and H elm ut G ruber, International Communism in the Era
o f Lenin (Ithaca, N.Y., 1967), 191-217.
2. T he KP had about 10,000 members at the end o f 1919, 4,300 o f which were
in Vienna; at the election for the Constituent Assembly it failed to win a mandate.
N either its m embership n o r electoral strength changed significantly throughout the
period. See H erb ert Steiner, Die Kommunistische Partei sterreichs von 1 9 1 8 bis 1933:
Bibliographische Bemerkungen Meisenheim/Clan, 1968), 24 and passim. The SDAP
was able to dismiss the KPs radical critiques as parrotings o f the Communist In ter
national. The A ustrian socialists ability to claim the undisputed leadership o f the
whole working class was not shared by socialists in France and Germany, for instance,
where strong com munist parties offered radical critiques and programs in com pet
ing for worker affiliation and support. See for example Julian Jackson, The Popular
Front in France: Defending Democracy, 1 9 3 4 -3 8 (Cambridge, 1988), and Heinrich
August Winkler, Der Weg in die Katastrophe: Arbeiter und Arbeiterbewegung in der Wei
marer Republik, 1930 bis 1933 (Berlin, 1987).
3. For Bauers prognostication, see Der Kam pf um die Macht (Vienna, 1924), 25,
and the many daily leaders he wrote in Die Arbeiter-Zeitung from 1924 to 1927. In
Vienna the SDAP gained 57-60% o f the vote. Its proportion o f the national vote
Index
N .B .:
258
Austrian Socialist party (SDAP) (continued)
advantage in Constitutional Assembly, 181
anti-Semitism and, 26-27
attempt to control workers power, 1920
attempt to force Seipel to make
concessions, 41
Austrian republic and, 13, 15, 24
basis of attempt to develop proletarian
counterculture, 511
birth control and, 161, 162
Catholic churchs power and, 28-29
coalition with Christian Socials, 16, 21
cultural directors of, 85-86
cultural organizations of, 81-82
cultural project of. See Cultural project;
Socialist party culture
defensive-force position and, 40-41
dichotomy between leaders and followers
of, 7-8, 20, 54, 178
educational reform program of, 7780
educational reforms of, 7380
election of 1919 to Constituent Assembly
and, 21
elections of 1927 and, 42
elections of 1919 to 1930 and, 182-83
emergence as mass party, 181
failure to involve workers in housing
plans, 52-53
film and, 130-31
intervention in cinema, 132-36
Jews in, 26, 195n
lack of preparation for role in establishing
republic, 182-83
lecture program of, 91-92
mass resignations from, 140
membership of, 10, 20, 81, 108, 220n,
223n,255n
new woman and, 14755
opponents of, 183-84
opposition to coalition of Christian Socials
and Pan-Germans, 29
organization and decision-making bodies
of, 53-54
paid functionaries of, 5354
paternalism of, 8, 52-53, 90, 147, 162-63
practical advice offered to women, 148,
150-51, 154-55
program for children, 166-67
proletkult adapted by, 109
publications of, 87-91
radio and, 136, 138, 13941
reforms of 1918-19 and, 21-22
Schnitzler, Bettauer, and Baker sex
scandals and, 179
schools for leadership of, 90, 92
Index
settlers movement and, 48
sexuality and, 156-59
social composition of, 20
sports programs of, 102-7
strategy of passivity of, 4
theoretical orientation regarding
proletarian culture, 86-87
unsalaried cadres of, 54
womens roles and, 150, 178
worker festivals and, 107-12
worker libraries and, 92-96
Austromarxism, 5, 29-44, 183, 197n, 198n
culture and class struggle and, 5-11
environmentalism and, 46
family and, 147
first appearance of, 32
intellectual portrait of Austromarxists
and, 30-32
Jews and, 31
two distinctive groups in, 30
Avenarius, Ferdinand, 86
Bach, David Joseph, 37, 85, 86
Sozialdemokratische Kunststelle under,
96-102
Bahr, Hermann, 109
Baker, Josephine, 119, 164, 179
Balance of class forces, 37-41, 179
Balazs, Bela, 131
Bathhouses, municipal, 60, 66
Baubock, Rainer, 192n, 202n, 203n, 204n,
206n, 207n
Bauer, Helene (Gumplowicz), 26, 150
Bauer, Otto, 5, 6, 20, 21, 23, 26, 30, 31, 36,
38, 43, 89,90, 178
arguments for separation of church and
state, 29
Austromarxism and, 30, 33, 37-41
confrontation with Renner, 42
customs union proposed by, 24
defensive-force position of, 40-41
explanation of 1919 elections to
Constituent Assembly, 192n
housing program and, 50, 54
party hierarchy and, 7
power of SDAP and, 182, 183
response to anti-Semitism, 27
on role of women, 178
socialist culture and, 86
socialization program of, 22
Bauer, Otto (der kleine Bauer), 28
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 99
Berlin
educational reform in, 77
public bousing in, 60
Index
Berlin Alexanderplatz (film), 129
259
Caf Central, 33
Caf Elektric (film), 130
Carltheater, 97
Carnap, Rudolf, 84
Catholic Action groups, 27-28, 164
abortion and, 163
Catholic church
abortion and, 163, 176
anticlericalism and, 28
educational reform and, 78-79
marriage consultation clinics and, 6869
municipal crematorium and, 72
power of, 27
separation of church and state and, 2729, 182
separation of school and church and, 74
sexuality and, 163-64
Catholic Day, 225n
Catholic radio club, 138, 139
Catholic youth, 24
Certeau, Michel de, 239n
CGT. See Confdration Gnrale du Travail
Chamber of Agriculture, 138
Chamber of Commerce, 138
Chamber of Workers and Employees, 21,
138
Charleys Aunt (film), 129
Chauvinism, ethnic, 25
Chess club, 103
Childbearing, exercise and, 151
Child care. See also Motherhood
mothers consultation clinics and, 69
as womens responsibility, 152
Children
after-school centers for, 69, 166
aid to, 66
illegitimate, 159
infant layettes distributed to, 69, 70
kindergartens and, 66, 69, 152
mothers' consultation clinics and, 69
municipalitys power to separate from
parents, 68-69, 71-72
public education and, 73-80
recreational activities of, 121
SDAPs program for, 16667
socialization of, 67, 165, 171-72, 173
Childrens diagnostic service
(Kinderbemahmestelle), 71
Christian Social party, 4, 181
abortion and, 159, 162, 163, 176
anti-Semitism of, 26, 72
attacks on Tandlers policies, 6869
coalition with SDAP, 16, 21
commitment to monarchy, 13, 24
confcftiion.il schools and, 2l5n
260
Christian Social party (continued)
elections of 1927 and, 42
health and welfare programs and, 68-69
housing program and, 51
housing requisitioning law and, 48
1919 elections to Constituent Assembly
and, 21
pornography and, 164
SDAP educational reform program and,
73-75, 78
SDAP opposition to coalition of PanGermans with, 29
sexuality and, 163-64
Church. See Catholic church
Cinema. See Films
Cinema conference, 130-31
Circuses, 11819
Circus Kludsky, 118
Civilization. See Bildung
Class forces, balance of, 37-41, 179
Clothing
utilitarian versus bourgeois, 149
of workers attending concerts, 99
Coitus interruptus, 169, 176
Combat gymnastics, 1056
Comintern, 4
Commercial culture, 115
leisure time and, 11620
problem of dealing with, 9
Communal facilities, 6061, 62, 72
Communist International, 4
Communist party, Austrian (KP), 20, 181,
254n
Communist party, German (KPD), cultural
efforts of, 81
Concierge, in public housing projects, 63
Condoms, 176
Confdration Gnrale du Travail (CGT),
232n
Confessional schools, 215n
Congress of Marxist Individual Psychology,
175
Conjugal rights, denial of, to prevent
conception, 177
Conley, Andrew, 3
Constituent Assembly, 181
1919 elections to, 21
Constitutional Assembly, SDAP seats in, 181
Contraception. See Birth control
Cooper, James Fenimore, 95
Cooperative societies, newspapers published
by, 87
Cosmetics, SDAP discouragement of use of,
150
Index
Council Movement, 33
Cred, Karl, 97
Crematorium, municipal, controversy over,
72
Croats, 25
Cultural project, 9. See also Socialist party
culture
shortcomings of, 184-85
as substitute for politics, 18384
Cultural revolution, Bauers separtion of,
from political revolution, 39
Cultural transformation, experiment in, 5
11,
180-86
Culture
commercial, 9, 115, 116-20
elite, rejection of and desire for, 83
87
mass, 9
noncommercial, 115
popular, condemnation of, 123-26
socialist. See Socialist party culture
Curtiz, Michael (Kertesz), 126
Czechs, 15, 18, 25, 194n
Czeija, Oskar, 136
Czeike, Felix, 190n, 202n, 203n, 206n,
207n, 21 In, 212n, 213n, 229n
Dance, 119
Dancing, 120, 124-25
Danneberg, Robert, 26, 37, 133
socialist culture and, 86
Danubian confederation, 15
Death rate, decline of, 66
Defensive-force position of SDAP, 40-41
deMan, Hendrik, 142
Demonstrations, 19. See also Worker revolts;
July 15, 1927, revolt
Department of Social Welfare, women
employed in, 244n
Deutsch, Julius, 21, 26, 37, 111, 134
paramilitary orientation of sports under,
105-6
socialist culture and, 86
on spectator sports, 142
Dietrich, Marlene, 125
Dollfuss, Engelbert, 3, 4, 187n
Domestic workers, 153
Drama, 97
Dreigroschenoper (Brecht and Weill), 97
Dreiser, Theodore, 95
Dreyfus (61m), 130
Dreyfus Affair, 27
Dual Monarchy, 14
Index
Dumas, Alexandre, 95
Dsseldorf, health and welfare programs in,
66
Films
audiences at, 12728
as democratic art, 126-35
election campaign, 133
movie theaters and, 120, 127
reviews of, 131, 132, 134, 234-35n
socialist policy on, 132
Finanzkapital (Hilferding), 35
Fin-de-siecle Vienna (Schorske), 12
Fine arts, 100-101
Finker, Aegidius, 209n
Fischer, Ernst, 111
criticism of socialist youth policy, 16970
Flamme, Die, 28, 72
Folk dances, 124-25
Food
lunchtime, 148, 150, 228n, 244n
shortage of, 65
Forster, Friedrich Wilhelm, 178
France
educational reform in, 79
socialist response to anti-Semitism in, 27
Frankel, Victor, 174
Frankfurt
educational reform in, 77
public housing in, 57, 60, 64
Frankfurter Kche, 60
Frau, Die, 88, 90
Free Trade Unions, 20
Frei, Alfred G., 192n, 20In, 203n, 209n,
220n,228n, 233n
Freie Schule, 74
Freie Volksbhne, 82
Frensham Heights, 77
Freud, Anna, 76
Freudlose Gasse, Die (Pabst), 13
Freud, Sigmund, 226-27n
Freundlich, Emmy, 26, 160
Friedjung, Joseph, 175
262
F rie n d s o f N a tu re , 1 03
F u e l, s h o rta g e o f, 6 5
F u r n i t u r e , 61
G a n g h o fe r, L u d w ig , 9 5
G a rb o , G reta , 126
Garqonne, La ( M a r g u e r i t t e ) , 1 4 8
Garfonne/flapper f i g u r e o f n e w w o m a n ,
148, 150
G a r d e n p l o t s (Schrebergrten), 1 2 3 , 2 3 0 n
Gas ( f i l m ) , 1 2 9
G a stg e b , H a n s, 104
Gasthuser, 1 8 , 1 1 6 - 1 7 , 1 2 0 , 2 2 8 n
b o o k s as a lte rn a tiv e to , 9 3
w o r k e r fe stiv a ls a s a lte rn a tiv e to , 1 0 8
Gefhrdete Mdchen ( f i l m ) , 1 3 0
G e n d e r ro le s
c o n flic ts c r e a te d b y w o rk a n d , 1 5 3
o f w om en, 150, 178
G e r m a n S o c ia list p a r ty , c u ltu r a l e ffo rts o f,
81
G e r m a n S o n g S o c ie ty F e stiv a l, 1 1 8
G erm an y
e d u c a tio n a l r e f o r m in , 7 7
p u b lic h o u s in g in , 5 7 , 6 0 , 6 4
G la se r, E rn st, 2 3 In , 2 3 6 n
G l ck el, O tto , 3 7 , 8 7
e d u c a tio n a l re fo rm s a n d , 7 4 -7 6 , 7 7, 78,
7 9-8 0
Golem, Der ( f i l m ) , 1 3 0
G ram sci, A n to n io , 8, 2 5 5 n
Grand Hotel ( f i l m ) , 1 2 9
G ro h , D ie te r, 3 9
G ru b er, H e lm u t, 188n, 1 89 n, 191n, 192n,
205n, 226n, 255n
G r n b e r g , C a rl, 3 2
G u lic k , C h a rle s , 3 0
G u m p l o w i c z , H e l e n e . See B a u e r , H e l e n e
H
H
H
H
H
a d o w C o m m issio n , 77
a h n , O tto , 84
am b er, E dm un d, 133, 134
a m b e r , P h ilip , 1 3 3
am burg
e d u c a tio n a l r e f o r m in , 7 7
p u b lic h o u s in g in , 6 0 , 6 4
H a n a k , A n t o n , 6 9 , iO O
H a rtm a n n , L u d o , 32
Hauptmann von Kpenick, Der ( f i l m ) , f 2 9
H e a lth a n d w e lfa re p ro g ra m s , 6 5 -7 3
c o e rc iv e n a tu r e o f, 71
in D s s e ld o rf, 6 6
p o p u la tio n p o litic s a n d , 6 6 , 6 8
so cia l w o rk e r s a n d , 6 9 - 7 2
Index
H e a lth c are
in c o r p o r a te d in to s c h o o l sy ste m , 7 5
p ro p h y la c tic , 6 6
so c ia liz in g c h ild re n fo r, 6 7
H e im w e h r, 4 0, 187n
R av agand , 139, 238n
H e tze r, H ild eg ard , 172, 173
Heurigen, 1 1 7 , 1 2 0
H ik in g , 121
H ilfe rd in g , M arg a re te, 21 ln , 2 4 7 n
H ilfe rd in g , R u d o lf, 3 0 , 3 1 , 3 2 , 3 3 , 3 5
H irsc h , Jo h a n n , 131
H o d a n n , M ax, 162
H o fm a n n sth a l, H u g o v on , 109
H o h e W a rte , 142
H o m e le ssn e s s, 4 7 , 6 5
H o m ew o rkers, 153
Horte. See A f t e r - s c h o o l c e n t e r s
H o sp itals
m u n ic ip a l, 6 9
o v e rc ro w d in g in , 6 5
H o u s e w o rk , ra tio n a liz a tio n o f, 1 48 , IS O 52
H o u s i n g . See also H o u s i n g s h o r t a g e ; P u b l i c
h o u sin g ; T e n e m e n ts
o v e r c r o w d in g in , 1 5 1 - 5 2 , 1 5 4 , 1 5 8 , 1 5 9 ,
171
H o u s in g re q u is itio n in g law
(W o h n u n g san fo rd e ru n g sg ese tz), 48
H o u sin g sh o rtag e, 4 5 -4 6
an d em erg en cy d ecrees o f 1 9 1 8 -1 9 , 48
re n t c o n tro l a n d , 4 7
H o u s in g tax , 4 9 , 2 0 3 n
Huckleberry Finn ( f i l m ) , 1 2 9
H u g e n b e rg , A lfred , 131
Humanit, I.. 3 4
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The ( f i l m ) . 1 2 9
H u n g a r i a n S o v ie t R e p u b lic , fall o f, 2 1
I F T U . See T r a d e U n i o n I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Illn esses
tu b ercu lo sis a n d , 16, 6 5, 6 6 , 211 n
v e n e re a l d ise a se a n d , 16, 6 5 , 1 5 7
lllustrierte Kronen-Zeitung, 8 8
I n d e p e n d e n t A s s o c ia tio n o f S o c ia list
S tu d e n ts a n d A c a d e m ic ia n s , 3 2
In d iv id u a l p sy c h o lo g y , 7 6 , 1 2 5
i n f l u e n c e o f , o n S D A P s c u l t u r a l p r o g r a m ,
1 12 -13
se x u a lity a n d , 1 7 5
In d u stry
S D A P 's fa ilu re to n a tio n a liz e , 1 8 2
V ie n n e s e , 15
I n f a n t l a y e t t e s , d i s t r i b u t i o n o f , 6 9 , 70
Index
S D A P s s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t , 9 5 - 9 6
so cia list c u l t u r e a n d , 8 5
Klussenkampf Marxistische IlltiUer, Der, 3 4
Kleine Bleat, l)as, 8 8 , 8 9 , 9 0 , 1 4 2
film re v ie w s in , 13 1
re a d e rsh ip o f, 8 9
Kleine Volkszeitung, Die, 8 8
J a h o d a , M a rie , 6 , 1 1 3
J e w s , 2 5 . See also A n t i - S e m i t i s m
A u stro m a rx ist, 31
c o n c e n tra tio n c a m p s a n d , 19 5 n
p ro m in e n t, 1 9 5 n
in S D A P , 26, 195n
s e lf -h a tre d a m o n g so cia list le a d e r s a n d ,
2 6-2 7
v alu e p la c e d o n b o o k s by, 8 7
in V ie n n a , 1 5 , 1 6 , 1 8 , 2 5 - 2 7 , 1 9 5 n
J o h n , M ic h a e l, 1 9 1 n , 1 9 2 n , 1 9 3 n , 2 0 3 n ,
204n, 206n, 208n, 222n
Jugendliche Arbeiter, Der, 1 3 1 3 2
Ju le s F e rry L aw s, 7 9
J u ly 1 5 , 1 9 2 7 , re v o lt, 1 0 , 4 1 - 4 3 , 1 0 8 , 1 8 3
ra d io a n d , 1 38
as tu r n in g p o in t in h isto ry o f F irst
R e p u b lic , 4 2 - 4 3
J u n g e n , D ie, 7 4
K a n itz , O t t o F e lix , 3 7 , 1 1 1 , 1 6 7 - 6 8 , 1 7 5
v ie w s o n s e x u a lity , 1 7 8
K a n t, I m m a n u e l, 3 6
M a x A d l e r s a t t e m p t t o i n t e g r a t e i d e a s o f ,
w i t h M a r x i s t i d e a s , 3 4 3 5 , 3 6
K a r l - M a r x - H o f , 61, 6 4 , 6 5
K a rl-S eitz-H o f, 6 5
K a th o lisc h e r L e h re r b u n d f r s te rre ic h , 7 9
K a u tsk y , B e n e d ik t, 2 2 8 n , 2 5 2 n
K a u tsk y , K a rl, 1 5 8 , 1 6 0
K elsen , H a n s, 4 0
K i b a . See K i n o - B e t r i e b s g e s e l l s c h a f t m . b . H .
K in d e rfreu n d e , 166
K i n d e r g a r t e n s , 152
a tte m p ts to p r o d u c e o rd e rly fa m ily , 6 9
in c re a s e in n u m b e r o f, 6 6
K i n d e r b e r n a h m e s te l le ( c h ild r e n 's
d ia g n o s tic se rv ic e ), 71
K in o - B e tr ie b s g e s e lls c h a f t m .b .H . (K ib a ),
- ,
133 34 235 i i
K itsch
a n and, 100
K o llw itz , K th e , 1 8 4
K o lo w rat, A le x a n d e r, 126
Kommunisten urul Sozialdemokraten
(B ra u n th a l), 8 9
K o n g r e s s b a d , 122
K o rd a , A le x a n d e r, 12 6
K o rtn e r, F ritz , 1 2 6
K P D . See C o m m u n i s t p a r t y , G e r m a n
K P O . See C o m m u n i s t p a r t y , A u s t r i a n
K ra c a u e r, S ie g frie d , 1 9 0 n , 2 3 4 n
K ra u s, K arl, 9 7 , 2 1 8 n
K reisk y , B ru n o , 1 8 8 n
K re ta , 5 5
Kronen-Zeitung, r e a d e r s h i p o f , 8 9
Kuckuck, Der, 8 8 , 1 4 2 , 1 4 8
K u lem a n n , P eter, 1 9 2 n , 2 1 9 n , 2 2 0 n , 2 2 8 n ,
233n, 235n
Kulturkampf, 1 3 5
w a g e d b y C a th o lic c h u rc h a g a in st S D A P ,
29
K u nsch ak , L eo p o ld , 25
J e w is h e x c lu s io n a r y law p r e p a r e d b y , 2 6
K u n s t s t e l l e . See S o z i a l d e m o k r a t i s c h e
K u n stste lle
Kunst und Volk, 9 6 , 1 0 0
Kunstwart, 8 6
L a b o r a n d S o c ia list I n te r n a tio n a l, 7 , 3 3 ,
107
L a b o r le g isla tio n
o f 1 91 8-1 9, 2 1 -2 2
w o rk day an d , 115
L a n g , F r i t z , 1 2 6 , 1 3 0 3 1
I.a n g b e h n , Ju liu s, 8 6
L a n g e w ie sc h e , D ie te r, 8 7 , 2 1 6 n
L anguage spoken at hom e, 194n
I.a sk i, H a r o l d , 3
L a u n d r y , c o m m u n a l , 62
su p e rv iso r o f, 6 3
L a z e rs fe ld , P a u l, 1 4 0
L a z e rs fe ld , S o p h ie , 1 7 0 , 1 7 5
L e a d e r s , so cia list
d ic h o to m y b e tw e e n fo llo w e rs a n d , 7 - 8 ,
20, 54, 178
sc h o o ls fo r, 9 0 , 9 2
Ijhensunfiihigkeit, 2 4 - 2 5
l .e < l u r e s , 9 1 9 2
264
L eg islatio n
lab o r, 2 1 -2 2 , 115
re n t-c o n tro l, 2 2 - 2 3
se p a ra tio n o f sc h o o l a n d c h u rc h a n d , 74
L e ic h te r, K th e , 9 0 , 1 54 , 1 55 , 170, 1 77
L e ic h te r, O tto , 4 0 , 9 7 - 9 8 , 1 00
L e ic h t-V a rie te , 1 1 9
L e is u re tim e , 1 1 4 - 4 5
a ctiv itie s e n jo y e d b y w o rk e r s d u rin g , 1 1 2
a v a ila b le to w o rk e rs , 1 1 5 16, 1 5 0 , 2 3 0 n
c in e m a a n d , 1 2 6 -3 5
co m m ercial cu ltu re and , 1 1 6 -2 0
c o n d e m n a tio n o f p o p u la r c u ltu re an d ,
1 23 -26
n o n c o m m e r c ia l a ctiv itie s a n d , 1 2 0 - 2 3
ra d io a n d , 1 3 5 -4 1
sp ec tato r sp o rts a n d , 1 4 1 -4 2
u n e m p lo y m e n t and , 116
u se o f, 124
o f w om en, 150, 230n
L eser, N o rb e rt, 1 8 8 n , 1 9 7 n , 2 0 0 n
Letzte Mann, Der ( f i l m ) , 1 2 9
L ev i, P a u l, 3 4
L i b r a r i e s , w o r k e r , 9 2 - 9 6 , 94
L ic h th e im , G e o rg e , 3 0 -3 1
L in z P ro g ra m , 3 0 , 4 0 , 183
L obau, 121, 722
L ob m eyerh of, 4 9 -5 0
L o e w e n b e rg , P e ter, 1 9 8 n , 2 0 0 n
L o n d o n , Jack, 95, 184
L o rre , P eter, 126
L u e g e r , K a rl, 2 5
L u k cs, P a u l, 1 2 6
Lunch, 228n, 244n
S u n d a y , S D A P s p r a c t i c a l s u g g e s t i o n s f o r ,
148,
150
L u x u ry tax es, 4 9 , 2 0 3 n
M c G r a t h , W illia m (., 1 8 9 n , 1 9 0 n , 2 2 4 n
M a c h , E rn st, 3 2 , 3 6
M a x A d l e r s a t t e m p t t o i n t e g r a t e w i t h
M arx ist id eas, 3 4 - 3 5 , 3 6
M a d e rth a n e r, W o lfg a n g , 1 9 6 n , 2 1 3 - 1 4 n ,
2 22 -2 3 n , 248n
Magic Mountain, The ( M a n n ) , 1 2 9
M a n n , H e in ric h , 131
M ann, T hom as, 129
M a rg u e ritte , V ic to r, 1 4 8
Marius ( f i l m ) , 1 2 9
M a rk , K a rl, 9 7
M a r r i a g e . See also F a m i l y ; W o m e n
re lig io u s v e rsu s s e c u la r c e re m o n ie s a n d ,
19 6 n
Index
N a tio n a l C o n fe re n c e o f S D A P W o m e n , 1 59
N a t i o n a l W o m e n s C o n f e r e n c e , 1 6 0
N azi p arty , A u stria n
a tta c k o n R av a g h e a d q u a r te rs , 1 3 9
e le c tio n o f 1 9 3 2 a n d , 2 3 8 n
N e ill, A . S ., 7 7
N e u e M e n s c h e n , 165
Bildung a n d , 7 3
co n d e m n atio n o f p o p u la r cu ltu re and,
12 3 - 2 6
c u ltu ra l e ffo rts a n d , 82
film a s b a r r ie r to c r e a tin g , 1 3 5
p o p u la tio n p o litic s a n d , 7 2 - 7 3
265
Index
N o n c o m m e rc ia l c u ltu re , 115
N u c le a r fa m ily , 1 4 6 , 1 4 7
p u b lic h o u s in g a n d , 6 3
Oberst Redl ( f i l m ) , 1 3 0
O
O
O
O
e l a (film d is tr ib u tio n c o m p a n y ) , 1 3 3
ly m p ia A ren a, 118
p era, 97, 98
r d e n tlic h e A rb e ite rfa m ilie (o rd e rly w o rk e r
fa m ily ), 1 4 7
p u b lic h e a lth a n d so cia l w e lfa re a n d , 6 5
73
p u b lic h o u s in g a n d , 4 5 - 6 5
w o m e n s r o l e i n , 1 7 8
sterreich isch e L e h re rb u n d , 79
s t e r r e i c h i s c h e R a d i o - V e r k e h r s A . C . See
R avag
P a b s t, G . W ., 1 3 , 1 2 6
P a lac e o f J u stic e , b u rn in g o f, 10, 108, 1 83
P a n -G e rm a n p a rty , 181
Anschluss a n d , 1 5 , 2 4
a n ti-S e m itism o f, 2 6
c o m m itm e n t to m o n a rc h y , 13
1 9 1 9 e le c tio n s to C o n s titu e n t A ssem b ly
a n d , 21
1 9 2 7 e le c tio n s a n d , 4 2
S D A P o p p o s itio n to c o a litio n o f C h ristia n
S o c ia ls w ith , 2 9
P a r a g r a p h 1 4 4 , a b o r t i o n a n d , 1 5 9 6 1 , 1 6 2 ,
1 7 6 -7 7 , 179
P a r a m i l i t a r y s p o r t s , 10 5 - 6
P a r l i a m e n t , 1 9 2 0 c-lc-c l i o n s t o , 2 1
P a rte isc h u le n , 9 2
P a te rn a lism o f S D A P , 8 , 5 2 - 5 3 , 9 0 , 147,
1 6 2 -6 3
P e o p l e s c l u b h o u s e s , 9 1
P e o p l e s p a l a c e s , 51, 5 5 , 5 7 , 5 8 , 58, 61,
6 4 . See also P u b l i c h o u s i n g
P e rn e rs to rfe r, E n g e lb e rt, 8 3
P e rso n a l h y g ie n e fo r w o m e n , e m p h a sis o n ,
150
P e u k e r t, D e tle v J . K ., 2 3 0 n , 2 3 3 n
P fa b ig a n , A lfre d , 1 9 7 - 2 0 0 n
P fo ser, A lfred , 1 9 7 n , 2 1 8 -2 4 n , 2 2 6 n , 2 4 8 n
P frim e r, W a lte r, 1 10
P ic to g ra m s , 8 4
P iftl, G u s t a v (c a rd in a l), 2 8 , 1 3 9
P irh o fe r, G o ttfrie d , 2 0 9 n , 21 O n, 2 1 2 n ,
2 4 0 n ,2 4 2 n , 2 5 2 n , 2 5 3 n
P o in t sy ste m f o r a llo c a tio n o f p u b lic
h o u sin g , 6 1 - 6 2
P o litic a l fo rc e s , 1 8 1 - 8 4
P o l i t i c a l r e v o l u t i o n , B a u e r s s e p a r a t i o n o f ,
fr o m c u ltu ra l re v o lu tio n , 3 9
P o lia k , M a r ia n n e , 1 5 5 , 1 6 8
P o p p , A d e lh e id , 1 55 , 1 5 9 , 1 60
P o p u la r c u ltu re , c o n d e m n a tio n o f, 1 2 3 -2 6
P o p u la tio n p o litic s
h e a lth a n d w e lfa re p ro g ra m s a n d , 6 6 , 6 8 ,
7 2-7 3
s e x u a l i t y a n d , 1 5 7 6 4
P o rn og raph y
C a th o lic c h u rc h a n d , 1 64
S D A P s f i g h t a g a i n s t , 1 6 3
P o v e rty , m u n ic ip a l in te r v e n tio n in fa m ily
a n d ,71
P ra te r, 1 1 7 -1 8 , 1 19 , 1 23 , 141
Praxis, Die, 1 2 4
P regnancy
a b o r t i o n a n d . See A b o r t i o n
ex e rc ise a n d , 151
b efo re m arriag e, 159
S D A P s a d v i c e t o w o m e n r e g a r d i n g , 1 5 4
55
P r e m a r i t a l s e x , 1 5 9 , 1 7 5 7 6
P rem in g e r, O tto , 126
P r e s s . See B o o k s ; N e w s p a p e r s ; P u b l i s h i n g ;
specific newspapers
P r ic e o f c o n s u m e r a rtic le s a n d s e rv ic e s,
229n
P ro fe ssio n a liz e d h o u s e w o rk , 5 2
Professor Unrat ( H . M a n n ) , 1 3 1
P ro ft, G a b riele , 155, 160
P r o l e t a r i a n R i v i e r a , 1 2 1 , 122
Prolethult, a d a p t a t i o n o f , b y S D A P , 1 0 9
P r o m e th e u s c o m p a n y , 134
266
P ro stitu tio n , 16
so cia list o b s e s s io n w ith d a n g e r s o f, 1 5 7
P ro v isio n a l A ssem b ly , 1 3, 15
P u b l i c e d u c a t i o n , 7 3 8 0 . See also S c h o o l s
d e v e lo p m e n t o f n e w c u rric u la a n d
te a c h in g m e th o d s fo r, 7 5 -7 6
in E n g la n d , 7 7
S D A P re fo rm p ro g ra m fo r, 7 7 -8 0
in U n ite d S ta te s , 7 7
in W e im a r R e p u b lic , 7 7
w o r k e r s v ie w s o n , 8 0
P u b l i c h e a l t h . See H e a l t h a n d w e l f a r e
p rog ram s
P u b l i c h o u s i n g , 6 , 4 6 - 6 5 , 5 7 , 5 7 , 58, 61, 7 2 ,
2 06 -7n
a rc h itec tu re a n d , 56
in B e rlin , 6 0
c o m m u n a l f a c i l i t i e s a n d , 6 0 - 6 1 , 62
c o n s tru c tio n m a te ria ls a n d m e th o d s a n d ,
5 6-5 7
e ffe c t o f sm a ll size o f a p a r tm e n ts in , 6 2 63
in E n g la n d , 6 4
in F r a n c e , 6 4
in F r a n k f u r t, 5 7 , 6 0 , 6 4
in H a m b u r g , 6 0 , 6 4
lack o f p la n n in g fo r, 5 0 - 5 3
re d fo rtre ss th e o ry an d , 2 1 0 n
re g im e n ta tio n im p o se d by m a n a g e m e n t
of, 6 3 - 6 4
s h o rtc o m in g s o f h o u s in g b u ilt b y, 5 8 , 6 0
te n a n ts o f, 6 1 - 6 2
w o rk e r s lac k o f c o n tr o l o v e r, 6 3 - 6 4
P u b lic sa n ita tio n , b re a k d o w n o f, 6 5
P u b lic W e lfa re O ffice, 6 8
P u b l i s h i n g . See also B o o k s ; N e w s p a p e r s ;
specific publications
A u stro m a rx ist, 3 2 -3 3
R ab in b ach , A n so n , 3 6 , 1 97 n , 1 99 n, 2 0 2 n ,
2 1 8 n ,2 2 5 n
R ad a, M arg arete, 171, 173
R a d i o , 1 3 5 - 4 1 , 137
e n th u sia sm fo r, 1 3 6 -3 7
liste n e rs p ro g ra m p re fe re n c e s a n d , 1 40
n e u tra l p ro g ra m m in g fo r, 136, 138
p ric e o f re c e iv ers a n d , 2 3 7 n
R a d io c lu b s, 8 2 , 1 3 8 , 1 3 9 , 1 4 0
R av a g ( ste rre ic h isc h e R a d io -V e rk e h rs
A .C .), 1 3 6 - 4 1
H e im w e h r in flu en c e o n , 2 3 8 n
stru g g le o v e r c o n tro l o f, 1 3 6 - 1 4 0
R ead ersh ip
o f books, 9 2 -9 6
o f so cia list p u b lic a tio n s , 8 7 - 9 1
Index
R e d F a lc o n s (R o te F a lk e n ), 2 4 , 1 0 9 , 1 21 ,
166,
167
se x u a lity a n d , 1 7 4
R e ic h , W ilh e lm , 1 5 8 , 1 5 9 , 1 6 1 , 1 6 2
c ritic is m o f so cia list y o u th p o lic y , 1 6 9 ,
170
Reichspost, Die, 4 1
Reigen, Der ( S c h n i t z l e r ) , 1 6 3 - 6 4
R e in h a rd t, M ax , 109
R elig io u s in stru c tio n , 7 4 , 7 8 - 7 9 , 1 82 , 1 9 6 n ,
215n
R e m a r q u e , E ric h M aria , 9 5
R e n n e r, K arl, 8, 15, 2 1 , 3 0 , 3 1 , 3 3 , 3 6 , 1 0 8 ,
183,
199n
c o n fro n ta tio n w ith M ax A d le r, 4 2
o p p o s itio n to d e fe n siv e -fo rc e p o sitio n ,
4 0-4 1
p o s tw a r ro le o f, 3 3
so cia list c u ltu r e a n d , 8 6
R e n t c o n tro l, 2 2 -2 3 , 2 0 3 n
h o u sin g sh o rta g e a n d , 4 5 , 4 7
R e n z c irc u s, 1 1 8
Resurrection ( f i l m ) , 1 2 9
R e u m a n n , J a k o b , 2 0 , 3 7 , 1 6 3 6 4 , 2 0 2 n
R e u m a n n h o f f , 51, 57
R e v o lu tio n re S o z ia ld e m o k ra te n , 1 70
Riesenrad, 1 1 7
R in te le n , A n to n , 1 36
R itu a ls o f o ld o rd e r, 2 3 - 2 4
R o s e n fe ld , F ritz , 1 3 1 , 1 3 2 , 1 3 4 , 2 3 4 - 3 5 n
R o se n fe ld , K u rt, 3 4
R o t e F a l k e n . See R e d F a l c o n s
R u sse ll, B e r tr a n d , 7 7
h e a lth <a re in c o r p o ra te d in to , 7 5
Index
m i d d l e , G l c k e l s p r o p o s a l t o e s t a b l i s h ,
75, 76
fo r S D A P le a d e rsh ip , 9 0 , 9 2
se p a ra tio n fro m c h u rc h , 74
w o rk , 76
S c h o rs k e , C arl, 12, 1 8 9 n , 1 9 0 n
Schrammeln q u a r t e t s , 1 1 6
Schrebergrten. See G a r d e n p l o t s
S c h tte -L ih o tz k y , M a rg a re te , 6 0
S c h u tzb u n d , 4 1 -4 3 , 87, 103, 1 0 5 -6 , 166
S D A P . See A u s t r i a n S o c i a l i s t p a r t y
S eid ew itz, M ax , 3 4
S eip el, Ig n a z , 1 3 6
a n n e x a tio n w ith G e rm a n y ,
C z e c h o s lo v a k ia , o r Ita ly p r o p o s e d b y,
2 4-2 5
a n ti-S e m itism o f, 2 6
C a th o lic c h u rc h a n d , 2 7 , 2 8
c en so rsh ip an d , 164
c o n tro v e rsy o v e r m u n ic ip a l c re m a to riu m
and, 72
re fu sa l to c o m p ro m is e fo llo w in g J u ly 15,
1 9 2 7 ,4 1 -4 2
S e itz , K a rl, 3 7 , 1 3 3 , 1 3 8
c o n tro v e rsy o v e r m u n ic ip a l c re m a to riu m
a n d ,72
e d u c a tio n a l re fo rm s a n d , 74
h o u sin g p ro g ra m a n d , 5 0
S e ttle rs m o v e m e n t, 4 8
S e x e d u c a tio n in so c ia list y o u th
o rg a n iz a tio n s, 1 7 5
S e x m a n u a ls, 1 6 2 , 2 4 7 - 4 8 n
S e x u a l a b s tin e n c e , so cia list p r o m u lg a tio n o f,
158
S e x u a l c o n s u l ta ti o n c lin ic s, 1 6 1 - 6 2
S e x u a l d iv isio n o f la b o r in h o u s e h o ld , 1 5 0
S e x u a lity , 1 5 5 - 7 8
C a t h o l i c c h u r c h s p o s i t i o n o n , 1 6 3 - 6 4
as d istra c tio n fr o m p arty , 1 5 6 -5 7
o rd e rly fa m ily a n d , 1 5 6
o v e r c r o w d in g in h o u s in g a n d , 171
p la c e a c c o rd e d to , b y S D A P , 1 5 6 - 5 7
p o p u l a t i o n p o l i t i c s a n d , 1 5 7 6 4
r e a litie s o f e v e r y d a y life a n d , 1 7 0 - 7 8
re p re ssio n o f, 1 59
se x u a l p re c o c ity a n d , 1 72
y o u th a n d , 1 6 5 -7 0 , 1 7 4 -7 5
S e x u a l p ro m isc u ity , S D A P c o n d e m n a tio n o f,
1 5 8 -5 9
S ie d e r, G e rh a rd , 1 7 2 , 1 75
S in c la ir, U p to n , 9 5
S in g in g so c ie tie s, 1 0 0
Sklavenknigin, l)ie ( f i l m ) , 1 3 0
S lezak , W a lte r, 1 26
S l u m s , V i e n n e s e , .r >.r>
S o ccer, 123
a s s p e c t a t o r s p o r t , 1 4 1 - 4 2 , 43
S o c c e r asso ciatio n , 103
S o c ia l a n d E c o n o m ic M u s e u m , 8 4
S o c i a l D e m o c r a t i c W o r k e r s p a r t y . See
A u s tria n S o c ia list p a rty
S o c ia list a rt, d e f in itio n o f, 9 7
S o c ia list a r t c e n te r , 8 2
S o c ia list c u ltu ra l c e n te r , 8 2
S o c ia list P a rty c u ltu re , 8 1 - 1 1 3
c o n c e p t o f, 2 1 6 n
e lite c u ltu r e b o th re je c te d a n d d e s ire d
a n d , 8 3 8 7
lec tu res a n d , 91 - 9 2
m u sic , th e a te r, a n d fin e a rts a n d , 9 6 - 1 0 2
p e rsp e c tiv e g u id in g p ro g ra m fo r, 8 2
p rin te d w o rd an d , 8 7 -9 1 , 9 2 -9 6
q u e stio n s a b o u t c o n te n t o f, 1 8 4 -8 5
s p o r ts a n d fe stiv a ls a n d , 1 0 2 - 1 3
S o c ia list P e r f o r m a n c e G r o u p , 1 0 0
S o c ia list S p o r ts I n te r n a tio n a l, 1 0 7
S o c ia list s y m b o ls , 2 2 6 n
S o c ia list W o r k e r Y o u th (S A J), 1 0 3 , 1 0 9 ,
111,
1 2 4 , 1 6 6 , 167, 1 6 9
c o n d e m n atio n o f p o p u lar cu ltu re and,
125
m e m b e rs h ip o f, 2 3 In
se x u a lity a n d , 1 7 4 - 7 5
S o c i a l i z a t i o n o f c h i l d r e n , 6 7 , 1 6 5 , 1 7 1 7 2 ,
173
S o c ia liz a tio n C o m m is s io n , 2 2
S o c i a l w e l f a r e . See H e a l t h a n d w e l f a r e
p rog ram s
S o c ia l w o rk e r s
h o m e v isits c a r r i e d o u t b y , 6 6 , 6 9 , 71
n e g a tiv e p e rc e p tio n s o f, 7 1 - 7 2
p ro fessio n a l tra in in g o f, 6 9 - 7 0
Sodom und. Gemorrha ( f i l m ) , 1 3 0
S o l d i e r s c o u n c i l s , 18
Sozialdemokrat, Der, 8 7
S o z ia ld e m o k ra tis c h e K u n stste lle , 8 2 , 8 3 - 8 7
m u sic , th e a te r, a n d fin e a rts a n d , 9 6 - f 0 2
w o r k e r fe stiv a fs a n d , 1 0 8 , 1 0 9
S o z ia listis c h e B ild u n g s z e n tra le , 8 2 , 8 6 , 9 1 ,
92,
93, 100, 103, 111, 132, 134
Sozialistische Erziehung, 1 2 4
S o z ia listisch e r L e h re r v e rb a n d , 7 9
S p e c t a t o r s p o r t s , 1 4 1 - 4 2 , 143
S p o rts
b o u rg e o is, 104
p a ra m ilita ry o rie n ta tio n o f, 1 0 5 -6
p o l i t i c i z a t i o n o f , 1 0 4 5
s p e c t a t o r , 1 4 1 - 4 2 , 143
w o m e n in , 1 06
S p o i ls p r o g r a m s , 1 0 2 - 7
268
Sprechchor, 1 0 9
S q u a tte rs, 4 8
S ta rh e m b e rg , E rn e st R u d ig e r v on , 1 8 7 n
S t a t e o p e r a . See O p e r a
S te rn , J o s e p h L u itp o ld , 3 7 , 8 5 - 8 6 , 168
a tta c k o n K arl M ay, 9 5 - 9 6
w o r k e r fe stiv a ls a n d , 1 0 8
w o rk e r lib ra ries a n d , 9 3
S tiftu n g sh o f, 4 9 - 5 0
S tra sse r, G e o rg , 139
S tra u ss, R ic h a rd , 1 09
S trik e s
n atio n al, o f tra n s p o rta tio n a n d
in f o r m a tio n se rv ic e s, 4 1 - 4 3
in 1 9 1 8 , 19
S tro b e l, H e in ric h , 3 4
S u b c u ltu r e s , w o rk in g -c la ss, 8 - 9 , 1 1 5 , 1 8 4
S u ffrag e
in 1 9 1 9 , 6
e le c to ra l law o f 1 9 1 8 a n d , 21
S u m m e rh ill, 7 7
S w i m m i n g , 1 2 1 - 2 2 , 122
nude, 230
T a n d le r, Ju liu s, 2 6 , 3 7 , 4 6
a b o rtio n a n d , 158, 159, 160
a ttitu d e to w a rd w o m e n , 178
C h r is tia n S o c ia l a tta c k s o n p o lic ie s o f, 6 8 69
m a r r ia g e c o n s u lta tio n c lin ic s a n d , 1 5 8
p ro p o s a l to d is trib u te in fa n t la y e tte s a n d ,
69
re sista n c e to a n ti-S e m itism , 7 2
so cial w e lfa re a n d , 6 5 - 6 6 , 6 8
Taxes
fe d eral a p p o rtio n m e n t o f, 19 3 n
h e a lth a n d w e lfa re p ro g ra m s a n d , 65
h o u sin g , 4 9 , 2 0 3 n
lu x u ry , 4 9 , 2 0 3 n
V ie n n e s e p o w e r o f lo c a l ta x a tio n a n d , 2 2
T eachers
e d u c a tio n a l re fo rm s a n d , 7 9 -8 0
tra in in g o f, 7 6
Temps, Le, 4
T e n e m e n t s (Zinskasemen), 1 8 , 47, 5 5 , 2 0 6 n
re n t c o n tro l a n d , 2 2 -2 3
s h a r in g o f b e d r o o m s in , 171
T esarek , A n to n , 3 7, 104
T h e a ter, 97
Variete, 1 1 8 , 1 1 9 - 2 0
T ille r G irls, I 19
Times ( L o n d o n ) , 4
T itle s, a ris to c ra tic , 2 3
T o lle r, E rn st, 9 7
Index
T ra d e U n io n In te rn a tio n a l (IF T U ), 1 8 7 n
T ra d e u n io n s
l a c k o f s u p p o r t o f w o m e n b y , 1 5 3 5 4
m e m b e rsh ip o f, 10, 8 1 , 2 3 2 n
n e w sp a p e rs p u b lish e d by, 8 7 , 8 8 -8 9 , 9 0,
218n
w o m e n in , 8 8 , 2 4 3 n , 2 4 4 n
T ra d e U n io n Y o u th , 103
T r a s h . See K i t s c h
T r a v e n , B ., 9 5
T rim e ste r m o d e l, a b o rtio n a n d , 1 5 9 -6 0
Tropfertbader, 6 0
T ro tsk y , L e o n , 1 9 8 n
T u b e rc u lo sis, 16, 6 6 , 21 In
b re a k d o w n o f p u b lic sa n ita tio n a n d , 6 5
Twenty-Four Hours ( f i l m ) , 1 2 9
T w o -a n d -a -h a lf In te rn a tio n a l, 3 3
U FA , 133
U n em p lo y m en t, 6
b u r d e n p la c e d o n w o m e n by, 1 7 7
e x te n t o f, 1 8 9 n
le isu re tim e a n d , 1 1 6
p o stw a r, 10, 1 9 1 n
U n ifo rm s, 24
U n io n A g a in st F o rc e d M o th e rh o o d , 1 5 7
U n i o n s . See T r a d e u n i o n s
U n ite d S ta te s , p u b lic e d u c a tio n in , 7 7
U n iv e rsity o f V ie n n a , 3 2 - 3 3
Unzufriedene, Die, 8 8 , 1 4 8 , 1 5 8
re a d e rsh ip o f, 8 9
w o m e n s i s s u e s a n d , 1 6 1
V a c a tio n , sta tu to ry , 21
v an d e V e ld e , H e n d rik , 162
Variet t h e a t e r , 1 1 8 , 1 1 9 2 0
V eid t, C o n ra d , 1 2 6
V e n e r e a l d ise a se , 1 6 , 1 5 7
b re a k d o w n o f p u b lic sa n ita tio n a n d , 6 5
V e rn e , Ju le s, 9 5
Vertrauensmann, Der, 8 7 , 8 9
Vertrauensmnner, 5 4
V ieb ig , K lara, 9 5
V ie n n a
A u s tr o m a r x is m in , 3 2
e th n ic e n c la v e s in , 1 8
h o u s i n g s h o r t a g e i n , 4 5 4 6
la n d sc a p e o f, 15
m a d e a p ro v in c e o f A u stria, 2 2
m id d le c la ss o f, 1 8 - 1 9
m o v ie th e a te rs in , 1 27
m u n i c i p a l s o c i a l i s m i n . See M u n i c i p a l
so c ia lism
Index
in 1 9 1 9 - 2 1 , 1 3 - 2 9
in 1 9 2 9 , 5 9
p o p u la tio n o f, 15, 16, 2 5
p o s tw a r h a r d s h ip s in , 16
p u b lic h o u s in g in , 4 6 - 6 5
s lu m s in , 5 5
so cia l te n s io n in , 1 5 - 1 6
w o r k e r c o n c e n t r a t i o n i n , i n 1 9 2 1 , 17
w o r k e r re v o lt o f J u ly 1 5 , 1 9 2 7 , in . t o J u ly
15,
1 9 2 7 , rev o lt
w o rk e r s in , 1 6, 18
V ie n n a C irc le , 8 4
V ie n n ae , R o b e rt, 126
V ie n n a U n io n , 33
V isu a l statistic s, 8 4
V ita stu d io , 1 33
Volksheime, 9 1
V o lk s-K in o -V e rb a n d , 1 34
V o l k s w e h r , 18, 1 9
Volks-Zeitung, r e a d e r s h i p o f , 8 9
Vollkomene Ehe, Die ( v a n d e V e l d e ) , 1 6 2
W ages
re a l, 1 9 3 - 9 4 n
o f w om en, 148, 153
W a g n e r, R ic h a rd , 8 5 , 100
so c ia list c u l t u r e a n d , 8 6
W a lte r, G a b rie le , 5 2
W asserm an n, Jako b, 95
W e b e r, A n to n , 37
W e b ern , A n to n von, 98, 99
W eg s, J . R o b e rt, 1 8 9 n , 2 0 3 n , 2 0 6 n , 2 0 8 n ,
21 In , 2 12 n, 2 15 n, 2 2 0 n , 2 2 9 n
W eid en h o lzer, Jo sef, 91, 2 1 6 n
W e im a r R ep u b lic
e d u c a tio n a l r e f o r m in , 7 7
p u b lic h o u s in g in , 5 7 , 6 0 , 6 4
W e l f a r e w o r k e r s . See S o c i a l w o r k e r s
Wiener Dreigroschenbcher, 8 9
Wiener Messe, 1 1 8
W i l d e r , B illy , 1 2 6
W in te r, Jay , 21 In
Wirtshaus. S e e Gasthuser
Wohnungsanforderungsgesetz ( h o u s i n g
r e q u is tio n in g law ), 4 8
W o lff, F r ie d r ic h , 9 7
W om en, 1 47 -55
a b o r t i o n a n d . See A b o r t i o n
a n ticle rica lism a n d , 2 8
as c o m r a d e a n d frie n d , 1 50
d e n ia l o f se x u a l in te rc o u rs e by, as b irth
c o n tro l m e th o d , I 77
as d o m e stic w o rk er , 153
e v e r y d a y life* o f , 1 5 1 5 2
e x e rc ise fo r, 151
a s f a c t o r y w o r k e r s , 152
as hom ew o rk ers, 153
le isu re tim e o f, 1 50 , 2 3 0 n
l u n c h e s c o n s u m e d by, 22 H i i, 2 1 1 11
n e w ,147-55
p o s t w a r e x p u l s i o n o f, f r o m In diiN try,
191 n
p ro fessio n a l h o u se w o rk a n d , 52
p u b lic a tio n s a im e d a t, 8 8
ra tio n a liz a tio n o f h o u s e w o rk a n d , 148,
1 50 -52
re a d in g h a b its o f, 8 9
re a so n s fo r w o rk in g a n d , 154
ro le o f, 1 5 0 , 1 52 , 1 78
as S D A P m em b ers, 20
s e c o n d -c la s s s ta tu s o f, in s p o rts , 1 0 6
so c ia list v ie w o f, 1 4 8
in t r a d e u n i o n s , 8 8 , 2 4 3 n , 2 4 4 n
t r a d e u n i o n s l a c k o f s u p p o r t f o r , 1 5 3 5 4
trip le b u rd e n o f, 1 5 0 , 1 52 , 177
w ag es o f, 148, 153
w o rk as b u rd e n fo r, 150, 1 5 2 -5 3
w o rk d a y o f, 151
w o rk w e e k o f, 19 2 n
W o rk day
e ig h t-h o u r, 115
o f w o m e n , 151
W o rk e r c h e ss c lu b , 1 0 3
W o rk e r c u ltu ra l o rg a n iz a tio n s, 2 1 7 n
W o r k e r f e s t i v a l s , 1 0 0 , 1 0 7 - 1 2 , 110, 2 2 5 26n
W o r k e r l i b r a r i e s , 9 2 - 9 6 , 94
books b o rro w ed from , 9 5 -9 6
p a tro n a g e o f, 9 4 - 9 5
W o rk e r O ly m p ic s, 1 0 9 -1 0 , 139, 183
second, 107
W o rk e r R a d io C lu b , 103
W o r k e r re v o lts
o f J u l y 1 5 , 1 9 2 7 . See J u l y 1 5 , 1 9 2 7 , r e v o l t
o f 1934, 3 -4
W o rk ers
a llo c a tio n o f p u b lic h o u s in g to , 6 1 - 6 2
b e n e fitin g fro m e d u c a tio n a l re fo rm s, 8 0
c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f , i n V i e n n a i n 1 9 2 1 , 17
d e m o n s t r a t i o n s o f , 19. See also W o r k e r
re v o lts; J u ly 15, 1 9 2 7 , re v o lt
f a m i l y o f . See F a m i l y ; O r d e n t l i c h e
A rb e ite rfa m ilie
f e m a l e , 152. See also W o m e n
im p a c t o f B o lsh e v ik R e v o lu tio n o n , 19
lac k o f c o n t r o l o f , o v e r p u b l i c h o u s i n g ,
6 3-6 4
lac k o f i n v o l v e m e n t o f , in p l a n n i n g f o r
housin g program , 52
5.3
270
W o r k e r s ( continued)
l e i s u r e t i m e o f . See L e i s u r e t i m e
n e ig h b o rh o o d s an d , 18, 4 7 -4 8
p a tro n a g e o f w o rk e r lib ra rie s b y, 9 4 - 9 5
in p o s tw a r V ie n n a , 1 6, 18
p ro te s ts in 1 9 1 9 - 2 0 , 1 8 - 1 9
re a d in g h a b its o f, 8 9
re sp o n se o f, to a tte m p ts to p ro d u c e
o r d e r l y f a m i l i e s , 7 1 7 2
t a s t e o f . See K i t s c h ; S o c i a l i s t P a r t y c u l t u r e
u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d . See U n e m p l o y m e n t
v ie w s o f, o n p u b lic e d u c a t io n , 8 0
w a g e s o f . See W a g e s
W o rk e rs c o lleg e, 9 0
W o rk e r s c o u n c ils, 3 3 , 181
W o r k e r s H o u r ( r a d i o p r o g r a m ) , 1 3 8 - 3 9
Index
W
W
W
W
W
o rk e r so c c e r asso c iatio n , 1 03
o rk e r s R a d io C lu b , 1 38 , 1 4 0
o rk e r sy m p h o n y c o n c e rts, 9 8 - 9 9
o rk sc h o o ls, 7 6
o rk w e ek , fo rty -eig h t-h o u r, 1 15 , 19 2 n ,
228n
W o rld L eag u e fo r S ex ual R efo rm , 158
Z e n tra l c irc u s, 1 1 8
Z in n em a n n , F red , 126
Zinskasemen. See T e n e m e n t s
Z irk u s G le ic h , 1 1 8
Z irk u s K ro n e , 1 18 , 119
Z o la , E m ile , 9 5
Z w e ig , S te fa n , 7 4 , 9 5